Decisions of Love
by EternalLove
Summary: Kagome has been summoned to the royal palace along with dozens of other chosen women in the country. Among the dozens only two will be chosen to wed the two princes. And of the two, only one can save the country from a growing evil.
1. Royal Proclamation

*I'll only say this once, Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takashi  
  
Royal Proclamation  
  
She looked down at the silk finery and gave a reluctant sigh. She didn't want to leave home, but it was the only way to bring honor to her family name. She should have felt happy like the rest of her family for being chosen. But she could not bring herself to celebrate in joy when she wouldn't see her family for years. Even if she had to live with her father's comments on being a female, she would have stayed. But it was a royal proclamation and it must be obeyed. Angering the youkai king was a foolish and dangerous thing to do. Her little brother entered her room, his face as grave as hers. He had been the only one to disagree on the demand. Unlike her parents and grandfather, he did not care of honor to the family name. He stood wordless, lips quivering and eyes ready to spill over with tears. She opened her arms and he ran into them, burying his small face into her kimono. Moments passed with the two of them holding each other tight. Then her mother came in and pulled her brother off of her.  
  
"Souta! That kimono is very expensive, don't get it all dirty with your tears!"  
  
"Mama, I don't want Kagome to go! We'll never see her again!"  
  
"She will bring honor to the family name, that's what's important. Don't you want your sister to have a good future living like royalty?"  
  
Souta continued to wail and Kagome shushed him.  
  
"Mother, it's alright if he gets my kimono dirty. It will be a long journey to the capital and my kimono won't stay clean in the dirt roads."  
  
"I still want you to look nice in front of all the commoners out there. Your father is only a 2nd rank warrior and that is not enough status these days."  
  
Kagome stifled another sigh and nodded her head in respect. Her mother nodded her's back  
  
as well in return.  
  
"Now, hurry up, you will leave in a few minutes. All your clothing and such is ready, though  
  
the palace will provide most of the things you need."  
  
Kagome carefully stood, trying not to tread on her new clothes. Her brother wiped his tears and gave her one last hug. Her mother brushed off imaginary lint with glittering eyes. Her father and grandfather were out working in the fields so they could not say good bye. Her mother gave her a tight hug.  
  
"Bring honor to our Higurashi name Kagome! Kami be with you!"  
  
She could feel the prickling sensation of tears sprouting in her made up eyes. Her mother shooed her out the door and into the courtyard. There was a small carriage covered in red and silver with the royal insignia of the ruling youkai family. She stepped in with the assistance of a guard and he closed the door. She pulled on a tassel and opened the curtains of window. Taking one last look at her family she let the silver curtain drop down. No robber would dare attack this carriage because the Inuyoukai family's royal colors were on it. The carriage lurched as the horses began to go at a steady trot. It would take a week to get to the capital and the road were long and windy. She opened her traveling bag and took out a book to read. Her parents had declined in getting her a tutor so Kagome had to learn everything by herself. Asking other boys what they were learning in their schools allowed her to learn those subjects and to push herself further. She was now two years advanced than most males her age. But still, she voraciously read, trying to absorb herself in those wonderful worlds of adventure and romance. As daylight lessened Kagome nodded off and fell asleep despite the steady trots of the horse shoes on the dirt road.  
  
*Four Days Later*  
  
She stared glumly at the carriage wheel. Of all the places to break a wheel, it had to happen far away from any village. A rider had already left for a village to get help yesterday, but who knew how long it would take? The last time they passed a village was two days ago and all she could see were grass fields bordering a dense forest. With no one but a few guards Kagome was lonely for talk. She had tried several times to strike a conversation with the royal guards but they looked uncomfortable talking. Giving up she went back to her book on philosophy. As soon as she had left the view of her home she had changed immediately into a more plainer and comfortable Yukata. If she was going to travel, she would travel as she deemed fit. The sunlight that reflected the pages of the book dimmed and Kagome looked up to see what was blocking the sun. She gasped, it was one of the legendary dragons from her books! It was made of every hue of silvers and blues. Long whiskers whipped in the wind and large silver eyes graced a wise face. There was someone riding on the dragon, a man with black hair tied back into a ponytail. The mystical animal landed gracefully near the fallen carriage. The young man jumped off and walked toward the guards. The guards had not acted alarmed at all and met the man casually. One of the guards pointed at her and the man gave a confused face. He walked toward her and gave a low bow. She stood up and bowed back as well.  
  
"You are the Lady Kagome?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I have come from the capital to help you."  
  
"Help me with what?"  
  
"The carriage."  
  
"Oh, a rider already left yesterday to get a wheel. I don't think we need much help, the guards do very well on their own."  
  
Several of the guards, overhearing this, puffed up their chests slightly.  
  
"Forgive me of my impolite manners. I am Kouga, one of the head leaders in the guards."  
  
Kagome gave a bow him and looked up to a surprised face.  
  
"There is no need for you to bow to me lady, I am of lower rank than you."  
  
"So? There is nothing wrong with being friendly and polite."  
  
Kouga gave a thoughtful look to her. "You are unlike the others."  
  
"Others?"  
  
"The other women chosen."  
  
"Oh, ah, may I pet your dragon?"  
  
"Certainly, but it is not my dragon. Just one of the royal pets."  
  
The dragon gave a snort.  
  
"Eh, I mean, one of the royal advisors. He agreed to give me a ride."  
  
Kagome shyly walked to the dragon and held out her hand for the dragon to sniff. It gave no regard to her hand and looked carefully in her eyes. She felt like her soul was somehow being reviewed before the dragon. It was over in a thrice and the dragon gave an approving nod.  
  
"Does that mean you like me?"  
  
The dragon gave another nod.  
  
"May I pet you?"  
  
He nodded again, and she gently stroked the space between his eyes. He closed his eyes and gave a sound close to purring.  
  
"Amazing."  
  
Kagome looked at Kouga while still stroking the dragon's rose soft skin.  
  
"Why is it amazing?"  
  
"Akira rarely takes to many women. The only females he can stand is the queen and a few of the servants."  
  
"He is so beautiful! Will he be staying with us?"  
  
"No, he has to go back for other errands. I'll be staying with you till you get to the capital."  
  
The dragon opened its eyes and Kagome put her hand away. With a whoosh of the wind it took off to the air as quick as lightning. Kagome stared at his retreating figure till it disappeared into the fading horizon. She turned her attention to Kouga.  
  
"Isn't the carriage safe enough?"  
  
"There has been a band of rebels going around lately."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Now, if you'll wait here I'll go and get the wheel."  
  
"Wait, a rider already left to get one."  
  
"I'll be back faster."  
  
"Faster?"  
  
Kouga gave a grin and took off in a cloud of dust. When it cleared he was gone. A guard, seeing Kagome's surprised response, gave an explanation.  
  
"Kouga is one of the fastest youkai in the country, maybe even the fastest. Unless you count the dragons."  
  
"Youkai?"  
  
Kagome thought for a moment. *He certainly didn't look youkai* But an image of him giving a grin gave evidence. He had fangs and his eyes had a preternatural look in them. She sat down on the grass again and went back to her book. She was just finishing a page when a cloud of dust surrounded the carriage. Kouga appeared, holding a carriage wheel.  
  
"I told you I was fast."  
  
"You....but..." she stammered.  
  
"This way was faster, instead of waiting for the rider. He'll meet us later."  
  
The broken carriage wheel was replaced and soon they were off. Kouga ran at an easy pace by the carriage.  
  
"Kouga?"  
  
"Yes Lady?"  
  
"Do you want to ride in the carriage? You'll get exhausted running all day."  
  
"We youkai don't get tired easily."  
  
"If you do, don't hesitate to ask."  
  
"You are different from the others."  
  
She gave one last confused look and settled herself for a nap. Kouga rode with her every now and then and the two became fast friends. His comments on her being different from the others were fewer, but still brought up every now and then.  
  
"So why is a nice girl like you going to the capital? You don't seem like the person that wants to be a princess."  
  
"Royal proclamation. I had to go, and my mother wanted me to bring honor to the family name. But I don't think I'll be able to capture his highness's attention. Much less his majesties."  
  
"You never know. There is something to you, though I can't quite think of it."  
  
"There you go again Kouga."  
  
He raised his shoulders in a shrug.  
  
"Deny it all you want, but I've met all the women coming to the palace. You are different from them all. Hey, look up, we are coming to the capital."  
  
Kagome pushed aside the curtain and peered outside. She could see gigantic walls surrounding the biggest village she had ever seen.  
  
"You've never been to the capital before?"  
  
"Never." she said without taking her eyes off the new spectacle.  
  
"Not everybody there is nice. You have to be careful." Kouga said in a serious voice.  
  
She peeled her eyes off the crimson walls and looked at Kouga.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"There will be a lot of competition in the palace between the women. Most of them are self centered and greedy and will do anything to get to the top. And there are a lot of bad men in the city. Don't ever go out in the public without asking me first. I'll have someone take you out."  
  
"Alright, but I hardly call myself competition. I've heard of rumors of the women in the palace. Almost as beautiful as the sky goddesses. I'm just going for the sake of my family."  
  
Kouga didn't reply back and just looked at the looming gates. 


	2. Royal Palace

Royal Palace  
  
Kagome opened the curtains all the way to see outside. The gates were already open and some guards were by the doors questioning all who came in. Upon seeing the royal colors on the carriage they saluted then went back to work. Crowds moved apart to let the carriage through while the commoners gazed into the carriage to see who was inside. A few caught sight of her peeking through the small window and pointed, talking to their neighbors. Kagome was too caught up in sightseeing to care as her eyes absorbed everything. There were cloth sellers selling beautiful and colorful bolts of cloth. Jewelers holding up beautifully carved jewelry. And there were people of all kinds here. Rich, poor, foreign, warriors, and even a few high nobles. She could tell them apart from the rest by how many servants carried their things and the style of their clothes. The style of the women's obi was one only high born women were allowed to wear. Kagome, being the daughter of a second rank warrior, could never have that privilege unless she married into a high rank family. And the men simply from their haughty attitude. She was so busy looking at the people around her she never noticed that they were approaching the palace till Kouga pointed it out. She gasped out loud, it was enormous. The walls surrounding the palace were red too except that it had gold edges with statues of golden dragons at every 20 feet. Even the doors were ornate, clearly showing the wealth of the royal family. When the gates opened for the carriage she gasped again. The palace was so large and spread out and there were trees growing everywhere. Warriors were walking around in orderly lines. Servants were tending the trees and welcoming the carriage. In her excitement at observing the city, Kagome had forgotten to change into a nicer kimono. So when a servant opened the door for her to get out, she groaned. She was going to meet the royal family in just her favorite yukata? As the servant led her through hallway after hallway, she burned with embarrassment at the stares of young men and women. Finally the servant stopped in front of a pair of doors more decorated than the rest. The doors opened by themselves and showed a spacious room with several people in it. Kagome tried her best to walk in with her head up and proud. In front of her were a man and a woman that was seated above the rest in silk cushions. Kagome got on her knees and bowed, giving the right respect for the king and queen. She lifted her head after bowing and sat kneeling. She didn't meet the king and queen's eyes, afraid to cause offense.  
  
"Child, look at me." said the queen.  
  
Kagome lifted her head and stared at the queen.  
  
"My my, well, you are the first girl I've seen with such blue eyes. And you are dressed quite sensibly too, not overdressed like all the other girls. What do you think dear?" Kagome blushed at the queen's compliment. Receiving praise from the kingdom's most beautiful woman was very status worthy. The king looked at her and gave a gruff nod. The queen spoke for her husband.  
  
"Guards, send for my sons please."  
  
Two guards left the room and slid the door quietly. A few minutes later it opened again to reveal the two princes. The two most eligible and most handsome men in the kingdom. They walked toward their parents and bowed. Kagome could see that they both had long silver hair and the famed golden eyes. But the taller brother was more graceful and cold while the younger one was rough and energetic.  
  
"Father, mother, you called us?" said the taller one.  
  
"Here is another girl to choose from, she comes from one of our 2nd rank warriors." the king pronounced.  
  
"Kagome, the taller one is Sesshoumaru. The shorter one is Inuyasha. In a few weeks from now, one of them might be your husband." said the queen. Then she clapped her hands and a servant appeared. The servant bowed and the queen beckoned the servant to come closer. She whispered something in the servant's ear and the servant backed away and bowed again.  
  
"Kagome," said the queen," follow the servant to your room. She will be your maid from now on. Anything you need, as long as it's not too big, you can ask for and it will be given."  
  
"Excuse me, your majesty, but would you allow me to work in your archery field?"  
  
The king gave a surprised look.  
  
"You can use a bow?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, your majesty."  
  
"Very interesting."  
  
Kagome almost leaped with joy. The king thought her interesting! She knew she had no expectations to be chosen, but receiving a compliment from the king made leaving her home almost worthwhile. She couldn't wait to write home and tell her mother what the king and queen said to her. Honor would surely come to her family's name!  
  
"I'm sure one of the princes will be please to show you to the archery field. Sesshoumaru?"  
  
"Father, I will be leaving on a mission to the southern kingdom soon. I'm afraid I will not be able to escort her around."  
  
"Inuyasha will show you then."  
  
"Father, I-"  
  
The king gave a stern look and Inuyasha closed his mouth. He gave a low bow and started to leave the room.  
  
"Kagome, you can follow Inuyasha to the archery fields, you can practice there whenever you feel like it."  
  
"Arigato."  
  
Kagome bowed deeply to the king and queen and followed Inuyasha outside. He was walking with long strides and Kagome had to almost run to keep up.  
  
"Your highness, could you please walk slower? My legs aren't as long as yours."  
  
He didn't respond but his strides became shorter. Kagome frowned. *This is suppose to be one of the famed princes? Courageous, kind, and handsome? He is one of the rudest men I've ever met!* They finally came upon a wide field with archery circles at the end of the field. There was a long storage shed that appeared to hold all the bows and arrows.  
  
"This field is mainly for men, I doubt you'll even hit the target."  
  
She fumed. *So he thinks I'm just one of those noble ladies who don't do anything but care about clothes? I'll show him!*  
  
"Well, excuse me, your highness." she replied, putting sarcasm in her voice when she said highness, "I doubt you could even hit the target if you tried."  
  
"Want to make a bet out of it?"  
  
"Yes, if I beat you then you have to admit that women are just as good as men when it comes to warrior arts."  
  
"Fine, we'll see who comes out as victor. Go pick a bow."  
  
Kagome walked into the shed and look for a good bow. She saw reserves and crossbows, but the one she was looking for was a long bow. She picked each long bow up, testing its balance and strength. She found one in the corner that appeared to be very old. She picked it up and found its balance to be perfect. It was huge too, taller than her by a few inches. She strung the bow and picked up a quiver of arrows. When she came outside Inuyasha already ready. He gave a surprised look when he saw that she held a long bow.  
  
"Where did you find that?"  
  
"In the corner, I can use it right?"  
  
"Yeah, but, I don't think you can pull it."  
  
"We'll see about that. You ready?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll go first. Whoever gets the most near the middle wins."  
  
Kagome nodded and watched as Inuyasha released one arrows after another. They became a steady stream of arrows that hit very close to the middle. After he was done he wiped sweat from his forehead with his sleeves. Kagome took her stance and notched an arrow. Soon she was releasing arrow after arrow even faster than Inuyasha. She was done in less than a minute. They both walked to their target. All of Inuyasha's arrows were close to the middle but only a few hit bull's eye. They looked at Kagome's target and Inuyasha's mouth dropped open. Every single one of her arrows had hit the middle and they were in so deep that Inuyasha had to pull it out.  
  
"Where did you learn to shoot a bow?"  
  
"I taught myself."  
  
"You taught yourself?"  
  
"Yes, you make it sound like it's an impossible thing to do. Now, say it."  
  
"Say what?"  
  
"That women are just as good as men when it comes to the warrior arts."  
  
"Fine fine, women are just as good as men when it comes to the warrior arts."  
  
"Inuyasha, I thought you said that all women are weak and annoying?"  
  
They turned around to see Kouga walking up to them.  
  
"Kouga-kun!"  
  
"Kagome-chan, you already met with their majesties?"  
  
Kagome walked closer to Kouga to talk to him, leaving Inuyasha out.  
  
"Yes, they were very nice."  
  
"I didn't know you were interested in archery. Most of the women rarely come here, at least the ones that the princes are suppose to wed."  
  
Inuyasha looked back and forth at the two while they were chatting.  
  
"Oi, you know him?"  
  
"Hm? Oh, Inuyasha, I forgot that you were there for a second."  
  
"You...forgot...that I was here?? What kind of woman are you?"  
  
"Inuyasha, don't insult Kagome!"  
  
"Kouga, stay out of this!"  
  
"Why you.."  
  
Kagome could see that blows were about to be exchanged and quickly stepped in between them.  
  
"Boys, boys, um, why don't we take a tour of the palace? I've never been here before and it would be nice to know my way around."  
  
Kouga took Kagome's arm and started to lead her away from Inuyasha.  
  
"I'll give you a tour, Kagome-chan. Better than dog-breath here."  
  
"Oi! My mother told me I was suppose to show her around."  
  
"Hm, well Inuyasha, you think women are weak and annoying right? I'm sure you don't want to show an annoying woman around. Let's go Kouga."  
  
Kouga stuck his tongue at Inuyasha as they walked away. Meanwhile Inuyasha was close to throwing a temper tantrum.  
  
*Review please!!! 


	3. Dinner

Dinner  
  
Kagome gave a weary sigh as she threw herself onto the soft blue couch. After that little argument Kouga had showed her around the immense grounds of the palace. Stables, several practicing grounds, hot springs, tea rooms, weapon rooms, shrines of ancestors, numerous tokonoma's that displayed stunning works of art, and the list just went on and on. The rooms were endless, as were the buildings. And there were several gardens as well. There was the traditional garden with an ornate bridge over a clear pond and soothing trees and plants. But there was also a water garden with water type flowers, weeping willow trees, and even a waterfall! There was a fruit garden that held a variety of fruits from foreign countries. And a magic garden that had exotic flowers that would never die. To her happiness the archery field was large and well kept. Straw targets were placed at the end of the field. There was even a large building dedicated to everything for archery. Bows, longbows, recurves, arrows, and other sorts of equipment. But Kouga whisked her away to show her other parts of the palace. It was near supper that they were finally finished. A servant came for her and led her to her room. The theme of the room was the ocean. On her shoji doors were carefully drawn paintings of water crashing on rocks. There were all shades of blue in the room. Her couch was a soft blue with darker blue cushions. The blankets on her futon were a grey-blue with herons stitched on. There was even a desk that held perfumes, makeup, and even a small jewelry box. It was a simple but elegantly furnished room. There was even a large wardrobe that held many silk clothes.  
  
"Mistress, dinner will be in 15 minutes. If you would dress and tidy yourself up, I will come back in 10 minutes to escort you."  
  
"Oh, no need, I only need a few minutes to get ready."  
  
The servant bowed and waited outside the room. Kagome fingered through the clothes in the wardrobe and picked one that was dark blue with golden dragons stitched on. A yellow obi was tied in a simple bow in the back. From the jewelry box Kagome picked out a sapphire studded comb and carefully place it in her hair. She opened the door and the servant looked surprise to see her done so quickly. The servant bowed and led the way to the dining building. It was quite close and Kagome could see the entire imperial family was there along with over 20 young women. The servant led Kagome to her seat while she gawked at all the beautiful women sitting in one room. Perfect large eyes, perfect bodies, perfect pouting lips, and perfect long hair. Kagome cringed at her own hair which was short in Japanese terms. Her hair only came down to the bend of her back and wasn't quite as straight and as fine as the other girls. It tended to have a bit of a wave in it and was impossible to straighten out. She was seated between two girls around her age. One of them was too busy looking at a mirror to notice Kagome but the other perked up in curiosity.  
  
"Hello, you must a visiting cousin perhaps?"  
  
The girl wasn't dressed as ostentatiously as the other girls but in a simple uniform that appeared to be a soldier's kind.  
  
"Um, no, I'm one of the girls picked to be here."  
  
"You? Really?"  
  
"Is it really that much of a surprise?"  
  
"It's just that you aren't dressed like one of them."  
  
She moved her eyes to all the girls around them.  
  
"Oh, they are here to wed the princes too?"  
  
"Every one of them. Of course this isn't all of them. Most of the girls have rotating dinner schedules so that they eat with the princes at least once every two days. You can tell there whole existence is based on what to wear and ways to capture the princes' attention. So you really, are one of the girls here to marry the princes?"  
  
"Not by my will. I was quite content to stay at home, but it meant a lot to my family so I did it for them."  
  
Unknown to Kagome, a certain hanyou's ear was cocked to her direction.  
  
"Really? Wow, you are different from all of them."  
  
"Not you too!"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Kouga had been saying the same thing all the way here."  
  
"You were with Kouga, huh? It must have been an interesting trip."  
  
"I guess it was. Inuyasha and him don't get along at all, right?"  
  
"You bet. Those two are always in competition. From fighting, to wrestling, to everything. I didn't think it extended to girls as well."  
  
"Oh, no no no. They were just fighting and using me as an excuse most likely." she blushed despite her words.  
  
"I'm sorry about my manners, I'm Sango, one of the captains of the guard around here."  
  
"Higurashi Kagome. And I'm just the daughter of a second rank warrior, nothing special,"  
  
To Kagome's surprise she started to tell Sango all about her life.  
  
"I don't know why they chose me when my father isn't very well known. And I'm not one of exceptional beauty."  
  
"Kagome-chan, don't put yourself down!"  
  
Kagome grinned at Sango's kind words. *Finally, a real friend!*  
  
The two girls chatted all throughout dinner on every subject except the two most talked about among the other girls: clothes and the princes. When they were done the two traded promises to meet each other often and talk. Kagome bowed to the monarchs as they walked passed but gave a glare to Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru, noticing her angry eyes, almost smiled from it. Inuyasha made a face at her just as he walked out the doorway. When the doors were closed several girls flocked to Kagome with questions.  
  
"Where are you from?"  
  
"Why did you glare at the prince?!"  
  
"You better get in trouble for it!"  
  
"Do you have no sense in dressing well for dinner?"  
  
"Especially in front of the princes!"  
  
"They'll probably never pick you."  
  
Bombarded by such rude questions and comments Kagome just smiled, nodded, and quickly opened the door. She ran into a hard object and banged her nose. She rubbed it and looked up into golden eyes.  
  
"Inuyasha! What was that for?"  
  
"Hey, watch your mouth girl, do you know who I am?"  
  
*Other than a rude creep with no manners* But she didn't say her thoughts out loud, despite their truth.  
  
"My apologies, your highness. Now what was that for?!"  
  
Inuyasha rolled his eyes.  
  
"My mother wanted me to apologize."  
  
Kagome gave a sly grin.  
  
"Really? Well...out with it."  
  
Inuyasha almost fell.  
  
"What? How can you demand an apology from a prince?"  
  
"Demand? You just told me your mother demanded an apology to me."  
  
"You are an impossible wench!"  
  
"You are a condescending idiot!"  
  
"Bad mouth!"  
  
"Rude manner!!"  
  
"Stupid girl!"  
  
"Ignorant child!!  
  
"Inuyasha!"  
  
Both stopped screaming at each other's face to look at the queen standing before them in a no nonsense manner.  
  
"I'm surprised at both of you! Inuyasha, how can you call a young lady such names?! And Kagome, I expected more from you!"  
  
Kagome's head drooped in shame.  
  
"Both of you go to your rooms to cool off your temper."  
  
Inuyasha stomped off to his room leaving Kagome alone. The queen put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Kagome, don't worry about Inuyasha. I think you are the first girl ever to stand up to his rudeness. It is a good thing and don't worry about being in trouble. Inuyasha needs someone to discipline him. Just be who you are."  
  
"Yes, your majesty."  
  
"Now, you may go to your room and rest."  
  
Kagome gave a deep bow as the queen left. She almost skipped down the hall to her room. *I can't believe it! The queen said it was ok to yell at Inuyash!* Kagome's happy mood plummeted to one of annoyance. *That stupid baka! Calling me all those names! Can't wait to call him more tomorrow! Now that I have permission* By the time Kagome was ready to sleep, she was thinking life in the palace wouldn't be too dull.  
  
REVIEW!!!!!!! 


	4. Encounter of the Annoying

Encounter of the Annoying  
  
Morning arose and the window by Kagome's head had let sunlight shine through. She woke up with a warm light on her face and stretched gingerly. She flung off her covers and looked out the window. Judging from the sun's position in the sky, it was 6 in the morning. She quickly went through the closet and picked out a sky blue yukata with blue birds soaring across the fabric. She pulled a brush through her hair and tied it up with a white ribbon. Slipping on her shoes she walked to the archery field. There were a few guards practicing there. Kagome went into the archery building and picked out a recurve. She strung it and picked out a quiver of arrows. The guards looked at her strangely, then went back to her shooting.  
  
*They probably think I can't shoot at all* Kagome gave a grin while she nocked her arrow and pulled the arrow back to it's full position. She breathed out and released the bow along with her breath. After the first arrow a dozen more followed behind it. Kagome wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead and walked to the end of the field to survey her work. All the arrows were clustered in the middle and were deeply embedded. The soldiers all gaped in surprise. Kagome hid a smile and pulled all her arrows out. She did another round and concentrated on making a perfect circle around middle. The sun was shining brighter and Kagome could feel droplets of sweat rolling down her face. She wiped them off her her hand and walked down the field.  
  
"Impressive."  
  
She jumped and turned around.  
  
"Kouga-kun, I didn't even hear you approach."  
  
"It's why I'm the head leader. That's very good shooting Kagome, where did you learn to shoot like that?"  
  
"I taught myself."  
  
"Really? Very impressive. I don't think I ever see a female out here except for Sango."  
  
Kouga helped her pull out her arrows and he remarked on how deep the arrows had gone in. The two chatted a for a while and Kouga left Kagome to eat breakfast. Kagome decided to take a quick bath and clean off her sweat. She was wondering where the bath was when she had an unwanted visitor.  
  
"Lost?" Inuyasha gave an all knowing grin.  
  
"Where is the bath?"  
  
"Apologize for getting me in trouble and I'll take you there myself."  
  
"A-apologize! You must be joking, did you eat something wrong last night?"  
  
"Keh! Well, then I won't show you where the bath is."  
  
Kagome could feel something in her forehead popping.  
  
"Fine, you immature kid! I'll ask Kouga where the bath is. I'm sure he is nice enough to show me where it is."  
  
Kagome turning around to the direction where Kouga had gone when Inuyasha stopped her.  
  
"Alright alright! I'll show you where the bath is. Better than that idiot wolf showing you."  
  
Kagome had to try very hard not to show the triumphant smile that was itching to show. *Reverse psychology....never failed me yet* The bath house was actually very near to the archery field and Kagome remembered where it was. Inuyasha followed her into the bath house to Kagome's horror.  
  
"What are you doing? Following me in here, you hentai!"  
  
"Kora!! I'm taking a bath too! I was working out this morning!"  
  
"Oh, eh", Kagome chagrined. "Sorry."  
  
"Keh, why would I ever follow an ugly girl like you into the bath?"  
  
Two seconds later Inuyasha had a huge lump on his head from Kagome's slipper.  
  
"You really are an immature kid, you baka!!"  
  
Kagome walked into the girl's part of the bathhouse in angry steps. Inuyasha rubbed his head and stuck his tongue out at her back.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Half an hour later Kagome was clean and in a more formal yukata. She slid the door of the dining room to the side and stepped into a nearly empty room. The only person there was Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha's brother. He didn't look up as she entered the room. She looked around and saw that the only place setting was right next to Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Excuse me, may I sit here?"  
  
He was silent.  
  
"I guess I'll take your silence as a yes."  
  
Kagome gratefully plopped down on the cushion and poured hot tea into a cup. A servant brought out her meal while she closed her eyes and took in the wonderful scent of green tea. When her plate was placed in front of her she ate hungrily. During her bites she noticed Sesshoumaru staring at her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're eating."  
  
"Erm, that's what you do at breakfast, you eat."  
  
"Most girls don't eat."  
  
Kagome paused in her eating and turned her full gaze to him.  
  
"Really? Why don't they eat?"  
  
"I do not understand females so how would I know? Maybe to make themselves slimmer?"  
  
Kagome rolled her eyes and started to eat again.  
  
"Why would they want to be slimmer? They're thin enough as it is."  
  
While Kagome was busy eating, Sesshoumaru wondered what kind of girl she was. His staring made Kagome a little nervous but she finished her meal and poured herself another cup of tea. She was taking careful sips when she couldn't stand his gaze anymore.  
  
"Is there another reason for you to stare at me? Don't tell me the girls here don't drink tea either."  
  
He turned away and Kagome thought she heard him mutter mortals in a annoyed tone. Kagome started to get up but while she did she muttered youkai in the exact same annoyed tone that he had used. She was walking to the door when he called out to her.  
  
"Youkai have excellent hearing you know."  
  
"I know, which is exactly why I said it."  
  
She slammed the shoji door behind her and muttered all the way to her room about rude youkai's and hanyou's. Waiting by her room was Sango, Kagome gave a grin and walked faster.  
  
"Sango-chan! How are you?"  
  
"Kagome-chan, I'm well. And how was your morning?"  
  
"Other than a few encounters, it was fine."  
  
"Does one the encounters happen to be Inuyasha?"  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"He was complaining loudly about it when I was passing him by. You have some spunk Kagome, and we of the guards enjoy it. Nobody can really make Inuyasha tick, other than Kouga and Sesshoumaru."  
  
"Yes, I met Sesshoumaru in the dining room. There weren't any girls in it like last night."  
  
"Oh, most of them sleep till late morning so the servants don't bother making a lot of place settings."  
  
"How many girls are there that's competing to be the princes' brides?"  
  
"Well, I think you are the last one, so around 50 girls."  
  
"Sugoi, that's a lot of girls."  
  
"Are you worried about competition?"  
  
"Why would I worry? Considuring that the girls I saw last night were only a fraction, I don't think my chances are very high. Some of those girls really are like the legendary nymphs." Sango gave a snort.  
  
"With the intelligence of simple children."  
  
Kagome gave a laugh.  
  
"Very true!"  
  
"Oh, I came here to ask you if you want to go horseback riding."  
  
"Er...um...I've never ridden on a horse before."  
  
"Really? Well, how about we spend this afternoon learning to? It's a very fun thing to do when the day is nice."  
  
"Sure, let me put on a hakama and a kosode. Come on in while I change."  
  
Kagome opened her door and rummaged through her closet for some clothes. She got behind the changing screen and quickly slipped on the light blue hakama and white kosode. Sango started to tell Kagome the basics as they walked to the large stables.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The man laughed quietly as his messenger whispered something in his ear. Finally, his time would come. The time to crush the Inuyoukai family and claim the land was very near. And all his agents were in place in the capital. His most loyal follower was already heading for the palace and soon there would be no obstacles in his way. Not like last time.  
  
*a hakama is a type of pants that men wear but women can too. It's like those pants that you see Kaede and Kikyo wear with their miko outfits. And a kosode is a short sleeved shirt. Kora is like the english equivelant to hey. and sugoi means wow, neato, etc 


	5. Not Who He Seems

Not Who He Seems  
  
"Ano...Sango, are you sure about this?" Kagome said, as she reluctantly got on the mare.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll be right there to help you. And this mare is a patient one, so no worries!"  
  
Kagome gave a sigh and waited for Sango to mount her horse. They were absolutly stunning  
  
creatures, all that muscle under a skin of glorious hair. But....they were so HUGE. Kagome  
  
gave a gulp and followed Sango's lead, gently tapping the horse's side. She lurched forward as  
  
the horse started walking and tried her hardest to keep her butt in the seat. Sango began  
  
whistling and looked around.  
  
"It's going to a beautiful day, don't you think Kagome-chan?"  
  
'R-right Sango. It is a beautiful day, but do we have to go so fast?"  
  
"Kagome-chan," Sango said, looking at her friend with a mocking serious face. "This is as slow  
  
as the horses can walk."  
  
"I can't wait to see them in a gallop." Kagome muttered, gulping as her mare started to go into  
  
a trot.  
  
"If we keep practicing everyday like this, we can. And Kagome-chan, keep your back  
  
straighter, it will help. A good balance is important in horseback riding."  
  
Kagome heard a great rumbling behind her and turned carefully around to spot Inuyasha on  
  
a silver haired horse. He was galloping at full speed and, as Kagome sighed, a perfect seat.  
  
They moved together in perfect motion and she couldn't help but be caught by how animal  
  
and person moved with great skill. He stopped his horse right before Kagome and gave a grin.  
  
"First time riding?"  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"If you really want to know...your back is slouched, you keep bouncing up in your seat, and  
  
you're reins are starting to get tangled."  
  
"Well, thank you Mr. I-can-ride-a-horse-perfectly." Kagome muttered. Inuyasha, of course,  
  
heard it with his youkai hearing.  
  
"Oh, just go away Inuyasha. I'm trying to teach Kagome something, which I can't do if you  
  
keep pulling her strings." Sango complained.  
  
"Good luck, that girl is slower than a snail."  
  
"Hey! That was uncalled for! So I never took the time to learn horseback riding! You don't  
  
have to rub it in my face and be a child about it."  
  
"Child huh?! At least...at least I don't look like one!"  
  
Kagome gave a very unlady-like snort at him.  
  
"Is that the best you can come up with?"  
  
Kagome gave a screech as her horse started to move. Sango had started to walk her horse  
  
away from Inuyasha and her horse was following.  
  
"Good luck on trying to learn!" Inuyasha shouted before he started to gallop away.  
  
"Stupid Inuyasha...that baka..someone needs to teach him a lesson." Kagome said, angrily.  
  
"He's just being himself. He isn't that bad a person, you just need to know him better."  
  
"Maybe you're right Sango-chan. But...he didn't have to make fun of me for it!!"  
  
"Calm down and relax, you can't ride well if you're so tense. And it makes it uncomfortable for  
  
the horse as well."  
  
Kagome took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. *I'm going to learn to be the best  
  
rider, and then I'll show him! He's such an infuriating, annoying, insensitive man!*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Her earlier promise was very quickly forgotten as Kagome's legs almost gave out when she  
  
got off the horse.  
  
"Itei!"  
  
Sango helped her friend back to her room.  
  
"It hurts the first week, but you'll get used to it if you do it often."  
  
"My legs are barely functioning Sango!"  
  
"Take a nice hot soak then go to the dining hall for lunch. You should feel like a new woman  
  
after that."  
  
"Thanks for the advice Sango, see you at lunch."  
  
"Oh, you're rotating so you'll be having dinner with them, not lunch."  
  
"So, where will I be eating?"  
  
"There is a more informal dining hall that's right behind this building. Did Kouga show it to  
  
you?"  
  
"Oh, I remember where it is now."  
  
"Ok, now go and take a hot bath. You stink Kagome-chan!"  
  
Kagome stuck her tongue out and closed her doors. A servant must have come in earlier  
  
because the place was neat and tidy. She grabbed a yukata and made her way back to the  
  
bathhouse. She gave a groan when she saw Inuyasha starting to enter.  
  
"Not you again."  
  
"I could say the same thing." she said cooly.  
  
They stared at each other for a few minutes then went to their proper sides. While furiously  
  
scrubbing off all the dirt and sweat on her skin, she kept a lookout for certain hentai's in the  
  
bathhouse. She could hear giggles and several girls came in. Slipping off their robes, Kagome  
  
almost gave a sigh of envy at their striking curves. After completely washing herself, she  
  
eagerly went into the very large hot spring and gave a grin. She could almost feel her muscles  
  
relaxing already. She was closing her eyes and trying to push out all the thoughts in her head  
  
when the girls' loud chattering began to cut in.  
  
"So what are you going to wear tonight? I thought I would try on a six layer kimono that's  
  
made of that silk from China."  
  
"Six layers? Wish I could fit into six layers, I should start eating less to fit into one."  
  
"Dearie, I don't even eat and that's how I fit into one. I figure, maybe if I stop eating then I'll fit  
  
into a six layer kimono. And...by chance if I happen to faint, then maybe one of the princes  
  
can catch me!"  
  
"Ohh!! That is such a brilliant plan to capture their attention!"  
  
"Too late, you can't use my idea now. Though you could try to eat less, slimmer the better."  
  
Kagome mentally rolled her eyes at such foolish talk. *Not eating just to fit into some fabric?  
  
Ridiculous!* And it just went on from there.  
  
"I just asked one of the servants if they had a ruby necklace and earrings set around and they  
  
said they would get me one! Isn't that just fabulous? I can ask for anything and they would get  
  
me it."  
  
"I know! I asked for another closet of clothes and they didn't even say anything!"  
  
Kagome started to grind her teeth. She had only been in the bath for about five minutes and  
  
she could feel her muscles tensing up again, only this time in annoyance. She got up and  
  
started to dry herself off. The other girls looked at her in surprise, noticing her for the first  
  
time.  
  
"Hey, you're that girl who was arguing with Prince Inuyasha." one called out.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Your chances of marrying the princes are talked about between us girls."  
  
"So?"  
  
"We figure it will be less than a week before they send you home."  
  
"Maybe what the princes are looking for are not looks and clothes, but intelligence and  
  
personality!"  
  
The girls began to laugh shrilly and it was hurting her ears. She quickly put on her clothes and  
  
made it out of there, pronto. Her body was still aching like crazy and her legs felt wobbly.  
  
Three hours of riding had really done some damage to her poor legs. And she didn't even  
  
have enough time to have the hot water work their magic. She was mourning her pains when  
  
she smacked into someone, causing her to fall down. She looked up to see Inuyasha looking  
  
irritated.  
  
"Why is it that I always seem to be runing into you?" she grumbled.  
  
"I don't know, maybe it's because you're clumsy? You should learn to be more graceful."  
  
"Why do I need to be graceful?"  
  
He gave an astonished look.  
  
"Don't you want to catch a husband?"  
  
"I am not in dire need of one right now. What I do need is a pair of new legs."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"My legs are killing me."  
  
"How long did you guys go riding?"  
  
"Three hours."  
  
Inuyasha looked up at the sky.  
  
"Three hours are too much for a beginner. I thought Sango knew that."  
  
"Eh...uh....she did."  
  
He looked down at her again.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well, I really wanted to get better. And the only way is to practice a lot so..well...you know  
  
the rest."  
  
"Baka, you should start with just an hour and work your way up. No wonder your legs aren't  
  
working well."  
  
He bent over and scooped her in his arms. She immediately grabbed onto the front of his  
  
shirt, surprised to feel very hard muscles underneath the soft material.  
  
"Hentai!!! What in kami's name are you doing?!"  
  
He began walking and ignored her.  
  
"Mou! I can walk! I'm not some helpless girl!"  
  
"Sure sure, of course you're not. You're the strongest girl in the world."  
  
"Hey, stop making fun of me."  
  
"There, we're here."  
  
Kagome looked up at the informal dining hall. Two servants opened the door for him and he  
  
carefully walked in and set her down on a mat. She was half expecting him to leave but he sat  
  
down next to her.  
  
"Erm, thank you."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
"Aren't you going to eat in the formal dining hall?"  
  
"Too many girls there."  
  
"Isn't that the point?"  
  
"It's more peaceful there."  
  
Talk about peaceful, there wasn't a girl in sight.  
  
"Where are all the girls?" Kagome asked.  
  
"I don't know, out doing girl stuff?"  
  
"You obviously don't know girls at all."  
  
"So you know then?"  
  
"Yes, a good idea, I guess."  
  
"Then why did you even ask?"  
  
"It was a rhetorical question!" she said, rubbing her head with an oncoming migraine.  
  
"Why do you always want to argue?"  
  
"You always start it."  
  
"You're so aggravating."  
  
"You're so obnoxious."  
  
"Why you-"  
  
"Hey you two!" Sango cried out, taking a seat next to Kagome. "Arguing again?"  
  
"No!" "No!"  
  
Sango gave a smile and started to eat as Inuyasha and Kagome began to start another fight.  
  
*Ah, another chappie done. And I think I might have Kikyo come in two chapters. For the next one however I'll start some Inuyasha and Kagome romance. Not too much though, just enough to make him see what a great person Kagome is. Unlike those superificial (did I spell that right?) girls from before. GO KAGOME GO!!! and don't forget to review! (make it a long one, I looooove long reviews!!! 


	6. Peek and Shriek

Peek and Shriek  
  
Surprisingly, Inuyasha waited till Kagome was done with her lunch instead of taking off after  
  
he had finished. He scooped her up again in his arms and took her outside.  
  
"Where are you going next?" he asked.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Well, make a decision, my arms are getting tired from holding up your heavy body."  
  
Kagome gasped.  
  
"Are you calling me fat?!"  
  
"No, just implying it."  
  
"You're so rude and callous!"  
  
"Just hurry up and pick a place, my arms are killing me."  
  
"Fine, take me to the water garden." she snapped.  
  
"That far?"  
  
"Well, if you're too weak and tired to do it, I can always ask Kouga to take me in his arms."  
  
"Forget it, that idiot doesn't even know where the water garden is."  
  
"Ah, but he just showed me where it was the other day."  
  
"So?"  
  
"Just proving you wrong."  
  
Inuyasha rolled his eyes.  
  
"You are impossible."  
  
"So are you."  
  
Suddenly, Inuyasha took a flying leap and Kagome grabbed onto to his clothes tighter. She  
  
buried her head in his chest in fright as he started jumping from branch to branch.  
  
"What are you doing?!!!" she screeched.  
  
"It will be faster if I jump on the trees."  
  
"What if you fall?"  
  
"I never fall."  
  
"There's a first time for everything!!!"  
  
"Not for m-"  
  
A branch broke under his foot and he plummeted to the ground. Kagome's breath got stuck in  
  
her throat and she couldn't scream as she watched the ground get closer. Inuyasha caught  
  
himself in time and landed neatly on a branch. He took another flying leap and started to go  
  
about his way again.  
  
"And what was that?!!"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"You fell!"  
  
"No, just tripped, there's a difference."  
  
"And just what is the difference?"  
  
Inuyasha stopped under a weeping willow that was growing right by the waterfall. He bent  
  
down and laid Kagome by the lake's edge.  
  
"When you fall, you hit the ground. When you trip, you don't. And soak your legs in here, the  
  
water is suppose to have special healing powers."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Hey, does anybody come around this lake often?"  
  
"Rarely, it's too far away for the courtiers, the girls are too lazy, and the servants don't have  
  
enough time."  
  
"Would anybody mind if I take a bath here?"  
  
"What?!!!" Inuyasha's mouth fell open.  
  
"Well, I figure if I take a bath here, I'll feel a lot better and I can go riding some more  
  
tomorrow."  
  
"Are you crazy?"  
  
"I don't like feeling helpless." she said quietly.  
  
"Feh.....fine, but don't come running to me if some monster eats you."  
  
"Which is why you'll be situating yourself behind those bushes over there." she said as she  
  
pointed to a little cluster of bushes about twenty feet away.  
  
"What?!!"  
  
"You know, you should really try expanding your vocabulary to something more than 'what'."  
  
"I am not going to be some bodyguard."  
  
"But what would your mother say if I happen to get eaten by some youkai?"  
  
She gave a mental grin in her head as he began to curse and walk towards the bushes.  
  
"And don't even THINK about looking." she called out.  
  
Kagome could hear the last snatches of his grumbles.  
  
"Like I would even want to."  
  
She took Inuyasha's example and rolled her eyes. She looked cautiously at the bushes to  
  
make sure he wasn't going to pop out and started to slip off her clothes. She poked a toe in and  
  
found the water to be a delightfully warm temperature. She sinked into the refreshing water  
  
and leaned against the bank.  
  
"Mmmm, the lake is working it's wonders already." she sighed.  
  
With the waters moving around from the waterfall, it felt like her skin was being lightly  
  
massaged. And the calming sound of water falling was really helping with the relaxation. Her  
  
eyes closed and she felt herself slipping into a world of her own. Meanwhile, Inuyasha was  
  
sitting on the top of a tree and still grumbling. He could see the lake from the view but not  
  
enough to see her.  
  
"Can't believe she's blackmailing me." *grumble grumble* "Dumb girl, who does she think she  
  
is?"  
  
She could feel every tense muscle melting and the feeling was so wonderful. *I'm going to  
  
have to come here every day* Hot springs were spectacular, but the lake was ten times  
  
better.  
  
"I can't believe it, it really does have healing properties." she said to herself.  
  
She was smiling when something splashed in the lake. Her eyes flew open and she screamed.  
  
"Kyahhh!!!!!!!!"  
  
Inuyasha jumped from the branch and sped to the lake. His claws were out and ready and he  
  
looked around for a ferocious youkai. But what he found was worse. Before he could even  
  
start complaining, a huge rock hit him right in the head and he conked out.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When he came to, he looked into two pairs of eyes. One was a sapphire blue and the other was  
  
a forest green. He groaned and rubbed his head. But before he could try to get up he was  
  
smacked in the same spot that the rock had hit. Kagome looked down at him, fully clothed,  
  
but with dangerously angry eyes.  
  
"You hentai!!"  
  
"What?!!!"  
  
"You saw me naked, you furry pervert!!"  
  
"You screamed and I was trying to help you!"  
  
"Why didn't you check the place instead of looking at me first?!!"  
  
"I did!"  
  
"No you didn't! The first thing you did was look at me!"  
  
"Shut up! I was trying to help you!"  
  
He got up this time without any injuries. The forest lurched for a second and then everything  
  
was normal. There was a small kitsune with orange hair in Kagome arms. Inuyasha's eyes  
  
narrowed and he snatched the kitsune from Kagome's arms.  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"Erm, Shippo just gave me a little scare earlier, which was why I yelled."  
  
Inuyasha threw him aside and Shippo landed roughly on the ground.  
  
"Kora! You can't throw a kid around like that!" the kitsune yelled.  
  
"That's right Inuyasha, leave him alone!"  
  
Kagome picked Shippo off and started to dust him off.  
  
"You poor kawaii little kid, you're coming home with me."  
  
"Wait, I have to ask my parents first."  
  
"Go ahead, I'll be at the palace, ok? Can you find me there?"  
  
"I know your scent now so I'll find you."  
  
Shippo transformed into a pink balloon and floated away with the breeze. While Kagome  
  
waved goodbye Inuyasha started to creep away.  
  
"Stop right there."  
  
Inuyasha gave a groan and turned around.  
  
"We can walk back together."  
  
"Your legs are better?"  
  
"They feel great! The lake really worked!" Kagome said with a happy smile. The sun's light  
  
made her eyes twinkle with jovial good nature and Inuyasha felt himself on the verge of  
  
blushing.  
  
"Keh, it's been around for ages."  
  
Kagome started to walk towards the direction of the palace.  
  
"Inuyasha?"  
  
"What?" he said.  
  
"Thanks for coming when I yelled."  
  
Her soft tone made something inside his heart twinge with an unknown emotion. Suddenly,  
  
he didn't mind guarding her at all.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kagome came back every day after that, and always with Inuyasha grumbling and  
  
complaining as he waited behind the bushes. Despite his complaining exterior he never  
  
protested about not wanting to be there guarding her. And so their days flew by in normal  
  
routine consisting of arguing, helping, and more arguing. But as the two grew closer and  
  
closer, an obstacle was making it's way to the palace. An obstacle that would change the lives  
  
of those staying in the palace forever. 


	7. Mysterious Arrival

Mysterious Arrival  
  
When they saw her they immediately bowed down, treating her as if she was one of the great  
  
royals. Her very presence commanded total and complete respect and it was etched on the  
  
expensive silks and the priceless jewels hanging on her body. She gave a cold eye to any  
  
servant who had the audacity to lift their head up and meet her eyes. But they could not help  
  
themselves, never had they felt such a desire to obey a woman who had just walked in. To  
  
grant her every wish and wait on her, hand and foot. Without asking any questions the guards  
  
wordlessly opened the golden doors that led to the throne room. All chatter in the room  
  
ceased and all eyes were immediately on her. She walked pass the nobles and courtiers as if  
  
they didn't exist and gracefully knelt before the king and queen.  
  
"My apologies for the being late, emperor."  
  
Her voice was like the wind from the north, cold and strong. The queen gave a slight shiver at  
  
how impassive the voice was but didn't think of questioning her thoughts. With just a few  
  
words from that lulling voice the girl had managed to capture the imperial court, along with  
  
the king and queen. A tiny smile of triumph tugged on her thin lips as the most powerful  
  
figures in the kingdom stared blankly at her face.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
She was about to have a race with Inuyasha on their horses when a servant sprinted towards  
  
them from the main building. She quickly pulled on the reins and her horse, Akina meekly  
  
obeyed.  
  
"Matte Inuyasha, a servant is coming!" she called out as he started off on a gallop. His  
  
sensitive ears caught the message and he stopped, only after flamboyantly having his horse  
  
rear and turn.  
  
"Cheater." she muttered under her breath.  
  
"Hey, I heard that you know." he said in a flat tone as he cantered towards her, but there was a  
  
trace of teasing under it.  
  
"Highness, your majesties request your presence in the throne room as quickly as possible."  
  
the servant sputtered out, gasping for breath. Kagome looked curiously at Inuyasha. His  
  
parents rarely called him to the throne room unless there was a new (and power hungry) girl  
  
waiting to meet him. But it had been several weeks and all the girls were already here. Who  
  
would come so late? Inuyasha looked back at her, sending a mental message that he was  
  
confused as well.  
  
"Go on, don't keep your parents waiting. I'll take a ride by myself and meet you at our place."  
  
Kagome said.  
  
"I hope it's not another girl." he replied impatiently. "I'll be back soon so don't go anywhere.  
  
It probably won't take too long, maybe Sesshoumaru finally got eaten by someone more  
  
powerful than him." he said hopefully.  
  
"Inuyasha!! How can you say that about your own brother?"  
  
He only gave a roll of his eyes and walked his horse towards the main building. When he  
  
arrived at the throne room he banged opened the doors himself and was faced with a silent  
  
room with their eyes not on him but on a woman kneeling before his parents. The woman  
  
knelt for just a second longer than languidly stood up and turned. Inuyasha felt like a  
  
hammer had hit his head and there was a slightly dizzy sensation tickling his nerves. She had  
  
ebony hair, a color similar to Kagome's, but darker, richer, and more tamed. Her pale skin  
  
would have been called pasty on any other person but it was perfect and brought out her  
  
dark brown eyes that watched him almost like those of a predator. He took a gulp and walked  
  
towards her as if he didn't have a care in the world. But he did and every tense muscle in his  
  
body betrayed his calm demeaner. His father was staring rather vacantly but then shook back  
  
into his usual manner.  
  
"I-Inuyasha," he stammered slightly, which was highly unusual considuring he always had a  
  
clear and powerful voice. "This young lady is among those competing for your hand. I  
  
daresay she will be very successful."  
  
*What in the world brought that on? Very successful?* But he was jerked from his throughts  
  
as the girl gave a deep bow, all the way to the floor, like a submissive servant.  
  
"All you desire, I shall give. All you want, will be yours. I am your most humble....and most  
  
obediant servant. Order me as you wish, my prince."  
  
He could feel his heart race and his breathing growing short. Every word she had said felt like  
  
there was a double meaning, just for him. And her voice grew almost seductive when she said  
  
want and desire, though he heard no change in her monotonous tone.  
  
"Inuyasha, I want you to spend the day with her. It is only right since she was so late and you  
  
have spent much time with the other girls." the queen spoke up.  
  
He couldn't say no, nor would his voice go against something he suddenly hungered for  
  
within.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Five minutes ticked by, then ten, then half an hour. Sora tossed her head and restlessly  
  
started to prance about as her rider patiently sat in her seat. She absentmindedly patted  
  
Sora's head to calm her down as she waited.  
  
"Maybe something important came up, neh Sora?" she said quietly.  
  
Her horse shook her head as if in disagreement, or maybe she was.  
  
"Let's go on without him, we'll probably see him at our spot."  
  
With a light kick of her heels she took off at a quick gallop as the sun rose higher in the sky.  
  
She took just one fleeting glance at the main building, hoping to see Inuyasha coming out but  
  
had no luck. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The waterfall's crashing was music to her ears. She had gone on a hard ride and it was already  
  
time for lunch. Her midnight black horse grazed nearby on a patch of green grass as Kagome  
  
started to slip off her clothes. She felt nervous without Inuyasha around but gratefully sank  
  
into the healing waters. Muscles relaxed, dirt and sweat magically disappeared, and her eyes  
  
closed into a light slumber. Meanwhile, Inuyasha was nervously stuttering as he showed  
  
Kikyo around the palace grounds.  
  
"T-there's the stables-I mean the bathhouse."  
  
He had his hands behind his back, anxiously pulling and fumbling with his fingers. Did she like  
  
the palace? Would she like it?  
  
"Your highness, is there something wrong?" Kikyo demurely said, her eyebrows slightly  
  
raised in question.  
  
"N-no, of course not. And how do you like your new home? Well, temporary actually."  
  
"I hope to make it permanent, if you get my meaning." Kikyo bowed with her words, her hair  
  
falling over her shoulder like a silken shawl. A blush of red appeared on Inuyasha's cheeks at  
  
Kikyo's surprisingly bold words. And yet.....how could he resist? *Wait, I feel like I'm  
  
forgetting something, something important...what was it?*  
  
"Is something troubling your thoughts, my prince?"  
  
He only half heard her words as he racked his brain for that forgotten thing.  
  
"Ah, Kagome!" he snapped his finger as he remembered. "My apologies, lady, but I have  
  
something to take care of."  
  
"But your highness, didn't your mother tell you that she wanted you to spend the day with  
  
me?"  
  
"Well, would you mind if I at least get a message to Kagome?"  
  
"And who is this Kagome that captures your attention when it should be focused on me?  
  
Surely she is not more important than I? And more important than the queen's orders?"  
  
Inuyasha chewed on his lip. His mother did tell him to spend the day with Kikyo.  
  
"Are you having seconds thoughts on spending the day with me? I mean, if you really must go  
  
to this Kagome, then by all means, do so. Perhaps I could find some other young man-"  
  
*Like some wolf boy called Kouga?* Inuyasha growled as he remembered when the annoying  
  
man had given the tour to Kagome, something HE should have done.  
  
"No no, I'll spend the day with you. I'm sure she won't mind."  
  
He offered his arm and Kikyo put her hand on top of it, the close contact sending shivers  
  
down his spine.  
  
"Now, over there is the...uh..the-"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kagome flopped down next to Sango at the dining hall.  
  
"No Inuyasha today? You guys are usually inseparable."  
  
"The king and queen called him to the throne room." she explained while taking a few bites of  
  
her meal.  
  
"Can't be a new girl, everybody was already called and accounted for." Sango mused as she  
  
finished eating.  
  
"I hope it's not anything bad."  
  
"Well, since he's not here to keep you company, how about I show you where the dragons  
  
stay?"  
  
"Oh!! I've been meaning to ask where it was but I kept forgetting for some reason."  
  
"It's part of the magic of the dragons. Unless you have bonds of friendship with them their  
  
magic makes you forget about them. It's one of the reasons why they aren't so well known or  
  
well written. " Sango said in her most scholarly voice.  
  
"Let's go right now, I'm not hungry at all." Kagome said, already standing up.  
  
"At least take an apple."  
  
"We'll stop by the fruit orchards before we visit them." Kagome argued.  
  
"Fine fine."  
  
Sango held the door open and the two stepped outside.  
  
"So do we need our horses?"  
  
"No, it's a short walk."  
  
Sango led her down a familiar path that went straight to her private healing waterfall. Kagome  
  
shrugged her shoulders and just followed Sango as she precariously stepped on some stones  
  
that led to the side of the waterfall. She disappeared behind the waterfall and Kagome  
  
followed her. Sango led her into the cave until an old door appeared. It had hundreds of  
  
symbols on it that created a border of strange shapes. Sango leaned forward and breathed  
  
upon the door. Despite it's age it opened as smoothly as a shoji door and revealed a large  
  
green valley. There were dozens of dragons about and each twenty times longer than  
  
Kagome's height. They soared in the sky, spinning and diving in their aerial stunts. A few  
  
lounged on the ground and appeared to be sleeping. But Kagome gave a gasp as little baby  
  
dragons ran about. There were only four but they were adorable. Even as baby dragons they  
  
were quite big, at least up to her chest. They had wings the size of their own bodies but still  
  
too small to take flight. Silver claws from their feet and hands glittered from the sun above.  
  
Two had to be twins, they had the same fire colored coat with gold streaks. Their eyes burned  
  
a yellow amber, almost a twin to Inuyasha's eyes. One was completely sky blue with dark  
  
purple eyes and chirped like a cat at it's friends. The last was a forest green and hid among the  
  
bushes, perfectly camaflouged. It popped out with a little roar and it's light green eyes  
  
sparkled with good humour.  
  
"Gorgeous creatures, aren't they?"  
  
Kagome nodded, unable to find words as she gazed around her. The valley was lush with trees  
  
and streams. Where they stood was an immensely long field full of grass and flowers. Dragons  
  
of all size and color were everywhere.  
  
"Each and every one of them are packed with magic. You don't ever want to mess with  
  
dragons. They hold the world's knowledge in their heads and know how to use it. But they  
  
rarely take part in mortal affairs because it would tip the scales too much and disturb the  
  
balance of the earth or something like that." Sango stated.  
  
Something whistled in the air above her and both girls looked up to see a dragon spiraling  
  
down towards them. It moved away just in time and landed on the ground with a whoosh of  
  
it's long wings.  
  
"Akira!"  
  
Kagome ran up to stroke the dragon's silver and blue colored head. He purred under her  
  
touch.  
  
"Wow, Akira doesn't take to females often." Sango exclaimed. "He only tolerates me because  
  
his mother is my friend."  
  
"His mother?"  
  
"The matriarch of the clan. Here she comes right now."  
  
A small dragon was soaring towards them. She was smaller than her son and was completely  
  
gold and silver. She gracefully landed before them and shapechanged into a woman just as  
  
her feet touched the ground. As a human she had long golden hair and large silver eyes. She  
  
looked to be in her mid 40's but age gave her no trouble. She walked as straight and as regal  
  
as any other person. A long gold tunic covered her body and was held in place by a silver  
  
sash. Sango gave a deep bow and Kagome followed her lead.  
  
"Empress, how are you today?' Sango asked.  
  
"Troubled." the Empress replied in a lilting voice.  
  
"Is something going to happen?"  
  
"Yes, be on the lookout Sango. As for you..."  
  
The woman turned her silver eyes at Kagome and once again she felt like her soul was being  
  
reviewed. The Empress gave a chuckle and the reviewing was over.  
  
"You hide within yourself. A layering of your soul covers the inner layer of your own destiny.  
  
One day you will peel that layering off and find a whole new world."  
  
"Mother, stop confusing her." a male voice called out.  
  
Kagome whirled to see a man standing where Akira had been before. He was tall and slender  
  
with silver hair like Inuyasha only a slightly darker shade. He had high cheekbones and full  
  
lips that grinned at her. His eyes were the same color as her own, sapphire blue. His clothes  
  
were much the same to his mother, a dark blue tunic with a silver sash.  
  
"A-Akira?" she asked tentatively.  
  
"One and the same." he said, still grinning.  
  
"You can change like your mother?"  
  
"It's a trait the dragons of royal blood share. My mother and I are the only two who can  
  
shapechange at will." he explained.  
  
"Oh, stop bragging. This is his first day shapechanging into a human. Young ones can change  
  
when they reach their tenth century." the Empress said.  
  
"Tenth?!!" Kagome exclaimed.  
  
*Ack! I'm SO sorry for the late update! I went on this really long trip and I was going to update before I left but fanfiction.net was being stupid again and wouldn't let me put it up! Hopefully, with me finally home, I can put up more chapters faster! Sorry again! 


	8. Don't Forget Me

Don't Forget Me  
  
The spell was bending them towards her will. Only gentle nudges and a few suggestions had  
  
gotten them almost completely under her command. Of course, they had to retain their  
  
personalities, seeing as they had many powerful friends within the palace. But just enough to  
  
have them do a thing here and there, like having Inuyasha spend every waking moment with  
  
her. As for that little obstacle called Kagome, she was of no importance. Upon carefully  
  
hearing the gossip between the other girls vying for the princes' attention she had learned  
  
that this Kagome was no challenge. A low class girl lacking proper manners and a sense of  
  
style. She had only won a place in Inuyasha's attention by some sort of trickery. It was of no  
  
matter, hour by the hour she was reeling Inuyasha in with her magic and her seduction. Soon  
  
he would be completely under her spell and the attack would be set. Nothing would stand in  
  
her way.....or her lover's.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kagome grabbed an apple hanging above her head and took a bite as Sango talked out her  
  
worries. Sango's fast walking gave away her nervousness as she nearly jogged out of the  
  
orchard. Kagome was running to catch up to the anxious girl.  
  
"I hope he doesn't pick those girls that stay in the East wing, I think they are the nastiest of the  
  
bunch. Of course, they are all conniving little wenches themselves, I have no idea why their  
  
majesties had even thought of this sort of thing. They make it sound like they are going to die  
  
any second. They have two healthy and powerful sons, an heir is not needed right this  
  
second. And it seems like they are more intent on Inuyasha picking a bride than  
  
Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru is the oldest one, so shouldn't he be the one pushed to pick a girl  
  
and not his younger brother?"  
  
"Sango, don't worry about it. I'm sure everything will be fine." Kagome said in a reassuring  
  
voice."Inuyasha isn't stupid and I'm sure he sees through those girls' facade."  
  
"Inuyasha can't outwit a rock. Haven't you noticed how much time he has been spending with  
  
that new girl?" Sango stopped in her tracks and turned to face her friend. Kagome let a  
  
troubled sigh escape her lips as she rested on top of a boulder. Sango had just worded out the  
  
problem that had been poking at her nerves for a week. The first few day were alright,  
  
Inuyasha was allowed the right to spend time with other girls. It was what he was suppose to  
  
be doing and she didn't want to seem like she was very attached to him. And there laid the  
  
problem, she was. Sometime in the days they had spent together she had become fond of him.  
  
Their petty arguments, the rides, the laughter, everything. *But I'm not here to snag one of  
  
the princes, I'm here just for the honor! I'm sure he would never pick me...* Kagome let  
  
another sigh out and propped her head up with her hands.  
  
"Well....yes, but he is entitled to spend time with any girl he chooses. And besides, both of us  
  
haven't even seen her, perhaps she is very lovely?"  
  
"That's the thing, I haven't heard anything about her." Sango didn't sit down but began to walk  
  
back and forth. "Normally the servants are chatting away about each girl but with her, I  
  
haven't heard a thing. It's already been a week and a half and nobody has even seen what she  
  
looks like. I don't know, I've got a funny feeling in my gut and my instincts are usually right  
  
on target."  
  
"If you are that worried, do you want to ask the Empress if she has been getting weird vibes  
  
from anything?"  
  
"I've been thinking about it. I didn't want to seem a bit extreme, because this is just some high  
  
born girl. And there hasn't been a human with magical powers for centuries. But...potions are  
  
still being made these days....."  
  
Kagome stood up and grabbed Sango's hand, dragging her towards the direction of the  
  
waterfall.  
  
"If it's going to help both of our nerves then let's just go ask the Empress."  
  
"Ha, so you're worried too?!" Sango smirked.  
  
"Just a little concerned for a friend."  
  
Sango stopped in her tracks.  
  
"Kagome-chan, do you have, well, feelings for Inuyasha?" Sango 's voice dropped down as if  
  
someone might hear them. Kagome's mouth dropped open in shock.  
  
"N-no, of course not! Whatever gave you that idea? I told you I wasn't expecting to get  
  
chosen."  
  
Sango stared at Kagome for a second, shook her head, and proceeded to walk towards the  
  
waterfall's entrance on her own.  
  
"Yes, I know, but that was not what I asked."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When the door opened the Empress was sitting down on the grass, looking as if she had  
  
expected them.  
  
"Took you long enough, I had been waiting for ten minutes. What were you two arguing about  
  
for such a length of time?" she said calmly, her silver eyes twinkling.  
  
"How...." Both girls said together. The Empress's eyes turned serious and she patted the grass  
  
before her.  
  
"Something is going to happen, something that will involve mainly...you."  
  
The Empress eyes flashed at Kagome. She gulped under the Empress's strong gaze.  
  
"Me....involving me." Kagome muttered to herself.  
  
"Empress, are you sure? Kagome would never do something terrible to their majesties." Sango  
  
said, trying to defend Kagome.  
  
"I never said she would do anything, I'm saying that it will involve mainly her."  
  
Kagome blocked out their talk and thought about what the Empress had said to her before.  
  
*"You hide within yourself. A layering of your soul covers the inner layer of your own  
  
destiny. One day you will peel that layering off and find a whole new world."* Was this what  
  
the Empress had been saying before? Something was going to happen that would involve her.  
  
And yet, this news brought not astonishment or surprise but a tight fear. A fear that clenched  
  
her gut and made her dread the future. She couldn't doubt the Empress's instincts when it  
  
came to the future, dragon magic was beyond her comprehension and her own abilities.  
  
"Kagome?"  
  
She snapped her head up to look at the Empress and was almost taken back by her  
  
expression. Her eyes were glowing a silver white and were more like a dragon's than ever. A  
  
foreboding feeling swept through her body as the Empress spoke.  
  
"Be cautious, very cautious. There are always two sides to everything to balance the nature of  
  
the world. Without one, the other cannot be but without either, the world will fall."  
  
Each word came out slow but the last word was murmured and when it was, the Empress  
  
vanished into thin air. Sango breathed out and stood up.  
  
"Talk about a vague forewarning for the future. I have to go, duty calls. You can stay here  
  
longer if you want. I don't think we'll be seeing the Empress for the rest of the day. Kagome-  
  
chan-" Sango grabbed her shoulder. "Even the future can change."  
  
She then hurried towards the entrance and left with the shut of the door. There was a plop  
  
beside Kagome and she turned her head to see Akira. There was no smile on that usually  
  
jovial face and he turned his head to look at the baby dragons cavorting a few feet away. His  
  
long silver-grey hair was tied back in a ponytail, bringing the sharp contrast between his blue  
  
eyes and his skin out. Wisps of hair fluttered around his face as a breath of magic wind rose.  
  
"So my mother talked to you." he stated.  
  
She didn't say anything and tried to keep her mind busy by watching the dragons. His hand  
  
grabbed her chin and turned her face towards him. Akira's eyes were concerned but he didn't  
  
take his hand away.  
  
"I'm fine Akira, I promise." she said.  
  
"That's not what I'm worried about. Kagome-"  
  
The entrance door swung open and Kagome turned her head to see who it was, making Akira's  
  
hand fall to his side. Inuyasha stood in the doorway and Akira's hand on her face did not  
  
escape his eyes. Akira quickly stood up to greet the prince.  
  
"Inuyasha, did you forget the rules of the treaty?" he said calmly, his face politely empty.  
  
"No, I just came to get Kagome." he answered, the subtle hint of a growl edged in his voice.  
  
"I'll come in a second Inuyasha, just wait outside." Kagome called out from behind.  
  
"No, I'll wait right here." His voice offered no arguments.  
  
Kagome tugged on Akira's silk sleeve to get his attention but he didn't turn his head around at  
  
all.  
  
"I'll come back and visit again, ok?"  
  
"Remember Kagome that the dragon's land is always open, day....or night, should you need  
  
help."  
  
He then disappeared the same way as his mother, without a sound or word. Inuyasha  
  
grabbed her hand and began to drag her out of the dragon's land. The warmth of his hand  
  
spreaded throughout her hand and up to her face. She gently squeezed his hand to ease the  
  
tension that ran along his body.  
  
"Are you alright?" she asked, already knowing the answer to her question.  
  
"What are you doing in the dragon's land all alone? Sango or.. or someone should be with you  
  
at all times!" he scowled. Kagome stopped and let go of his hand.  
  
"What are you so angry at me for?! I haven't seen you for over a week, you didn't send me a  
  
message or anything! And now you're yelling at me for being alone?! Just where have YOU  
  
been, Inuyasha?!" She scowled as fiercely as Inuyasha had and began to stomp away. It  
  
irritated her that he showed up out of the blue after being absent for a week and a half. She  
  
had been patient and calm, keeping her opinions to her self. And the first thing he does is  
  
start a silent fight with Akira then yell at her after dragging her out. A red blur zipped before  
  
her and suddenly Inuyasha was standing in her path.  
  
"Wait wait, I'm sorry. I've just been a little....a little preoccupied with some things."  
  
"It would be nice if you didn't forget your friends. And what's wrong with you lately? There's  
  
something strange about you." Kagome argued. And it was true. His face looked drained, like  
  
it took effort for his body to move. And his eyes didn't hold their normal stubborn look but  
  
something different. If she didn't know any better, she would say they looked glazed. He  
  
ducked his head and looked at the ground.  
  
"It's nothing. I've just been a bit busy." he explained. "And I thought that we could have  
  
dinner together again, like old times."  
  
She smiled, her anger at Inuyasha instantly forgotten  
  
"Alright, I forgive you. But don't forget about me again." she grabbed his hand and began to  
  
pull him towards the dining room. She grinned at the close contact, something that had been  
  
sadly lacking the past week and a half. His hands closed around hers and she could feel her  
  
steps getting lighter. Everything felt perfect and together, nothing else in the world matter  
  
right now. Not the Empress's words, Akira's strange behavior, nothing at all. Kagome soaked  
  
it all up, afraid that the preciousness of the moment could be lost in a second. A figure  
  
stepped out from behind a clump of trees and Inuyasha quickly moved in front of Kagome  
  
but froze when he saw who it was. Kagome froze as well because she couldn't believe what she  
  
saw. It was like looking into a mirror and seeing the same image. The same hair, the same  
  
facial structure, the same everything except the color of their eyes and their expressions.  
  
This twin was oddly like Sesshoumaru, the only emotion that could be seen was a sharp  
  
coldness in the eyes. Inuyasha almost tore his hand away from Kagome's and she looked at  
  
his strangely blushed face.  
  
"Kikyo." he breathed out.  
  
"Inuyasha, I had been looking all over for you. Dinner is almost ready." Kikyo held out a hand  
  
and seeming entranced, he walked to her and enterlaced his fingers with hers. Kagome was  
  
completely forgotten as he walked Kikyo the rest of the way to the dining room. Shadows of  
  
the night fell faster as twilight deepened. And Kagome couldn't move from her spot. There  
  
was a soft patter of teardrops and she touched her cheek, marveling at the wetness that had  
  
come without her knowing. Why was she crying? Maybe he had already made dinner plans.  
  
Maybe he had promised that girl before her. Maybe...he had forgotten her again.  
  
Ah, I can feel my muses working hard on this story. i know i know, i've yet to update my other fic, racing hearts, not to mention the plethora of other stories i got. but i'm feeling the writing vibe coming on when i'm writing for this story. i'll get to racing hearts when the RH muses are working again.  
  
Shinigami Clara: yup, Kikyo is working a small kind of magic on them. A magic of the possessive power in which she can greatly sway a person's thought or opinion. Of course, if the individual is strong and stubborn, she can't do anything. but kikyo manages to get by with the king and queen because she was portraying a strong image of beauty and strength that they liked her. in other words, she used her body.  
  
Those wondering about Akira: yup, he's got a semi major role in this story. but this will be a sess/kag. it might not seem like it when you are going into the story but i very much intend to make this a sess/kag 


	9. Twins

Twins  
  
She didn't know how long she stood there, hand empty of the warmth that she had so  
  
luxuriated in earlier. The grounds around her were getting darker and darker but she didn't  
  
have the energy to move. Why had he forgotten her again? She had been standing there right  
  
next to him and he moved away as if she was just a shadow. The tears had stopped and all she  
  
could feel was this great confusion. She was so incredibly confused that she couldn't even  
  
think of it anymore. She didn't know if she just didn't want to think at the moment or if she just  
  
wanted to push it away and forget about it. Confusion was accompanied by a queer clenching  
  
of her heart. She weakily slid down to the ground and held her head in her hands. *Forget? Or  
  
not forget? Think? Or not think?* Why was this having such a big impact on her? She  
  
didn't....love him....did she? Could she even dare think of the word love? But it made so much  
  
sense. All the worrying, the strange sensations in her stomach, all the symptoms she had read  
  
in those strange romantic novels in her father's library, could it be the result of love? "Stupid  
  
stupid stupid." she whispered to herself. What had she done? Her intentions of just bringing  
  
family honor had turned into the same intentions as those obnoxious girls.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It had been not even an hour since he had come back from the Eastern provinces and already  
  
his father was calling for him. Would it be another diplomatic mission that needed his  
  
ruthless son? Or a formal request to assassinate some meddling noble? The guards bowed and  
  
opened the doors to the courtroom. His father was sitting alone in the room, looking over a  
  
few scrolls. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes just a tiny bit, he smelled magic in the room.  
  
Magic of the possessive power, but it didn't smell have the familiar smell of youkai's magic  
  
nor was it very strong. It was something foreign, was his father practicing magic of other  
  
kinds?  
  
"Ah, Sesshoumaru, come come." his father motioned to him, his eyes not looking up from the  
  
scrolls spread around a table. Sesshoumaru kneeled before his father and stood straight,  
  
awaiting orders.  
  
"I need you to keep an eye on a suspect." his father ordered.  
  
"What kind of suspect? And what crime did he committ?" Sesshoumaru questioned.  
  
"She, what crime she WILL committ." his father handed the scroll he had been carefully  
  
scrutinizing for the past hour to Sesshoumaru. He quickly scanned over the scroll's contents  
  
with his eyes.  
  
"A prophecy?" Sesshoumaru read slower to digest the contents more.  
  
"It was written a hundred years ago by a woman who came from a family of powerful seers.  
  
She had never displayed any amount of talent in the area till the last few minutes before her  
  
death. She predicted this kingdom's downfall in the form of twin girls. Of course, your mother  
  
and I wanted to kill every pair of twin girls in the country but she predicted that the death of  
  
twins in the hands of the royal family would result in an even greater disaster."  
  
"Why? Killing both girls would be simpler and safer." Sesshoumaru rolled the scroll up and  
  
tucked it in his wasitband for further research later on.  
  
"Of the twin girls, the elder would bring the downfall of the kingdom and the younger would  
  
save it. So we set up a law that very day issuing that the eldest born be branded then tossed  
  
out to be an outcast."  
  
"Have there been any twins born in the past hundred years?" Sesshoumaru asked his father  
  
with grave eyes.  
  
"None at all, and we've been keeping detailed records of family births. However, it has come  
  
to my attention how much Kikyo and Kagome look alike, almost like twins to be exact. I've  
  
already looked over both birth reports but they come up empty for some reason. Which is  
  
why I want you to keep an eye out for Kagome. I want you to tell me if she displays any  
  
power, whether it is magic or not. Anything of importance you will report directly back to  
  
me." the king said in his usual orderly way.  
  
"What of the other girl, Kikyo? Who will keep an eye on her?" Sesshoumaru inquired.  
  
"My suspicions lie more on Kagome than Kikyo but that girl is taken care of by Inuyasha. Be  
  
sure to stay with her Sesshoumaru. Your diligence on this mission is crucial to the kingdom.  
  
Without birth records we have no idea who is the elder or the younger, which is why I have  
  
you two on the case." The king thumbed through the scrolls, the sign that the meeting was  
  
over. Sesshoumaru carefully mulled over the new information as he walked to his quarters. A  
  
prophecy of two harmless mortal girls, what was this kingdom coming to? Upon walking  
  
towards his far off rooms he sniffed the air. It smelled of some kind of magic, though very  
  
subtle and not at all distinct. He had never smelled anything like it. He smoothly followed his  
  
nose to the very girl he and his father had talked about. She was sitting slumped on the  
  
ground, eyes gone glazed and distant. What caught his eye was that she was glowing softly,  
  
like the gentle light of a firefly, only it was the lapis lazuli he had seen in foreign treasures. It  
  
was beautiful, he had to admit, but it was magic coming from a human. Then the glow  
  
disappeared in a breath and her eyes blinked, staring at the spot he was hiding.  
  
"If you could please stop hiding, you're scaring the crickets from their music." she called out.  
  
He walked out towards her, not embarassed at all.  
  
"What form of mortal are you?" he said, cutting to the point.  
  
"What are you talking about?" she asked with questioning eyes. They gave no hint of lie or  
  
deceit. Could it be she herself had no idea of her own magic? He reached out and touched her  
  
forehead with two fingers, scanning for any type of magic in her blood. Strange enough, she  
  
didn't move from his fingers and almost seemed to lean towards them, closing her eyes. It  
  
was all gone, not a trace to be found. So what was that glowing light he had just seen?  
  
Suddenly, the tedious task of watching the girl didn't seem so tedious anymore, it was now  
  
becoming somewhat fascinating and a change from the boring monotony of life.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Once she got back to her bedroom she sank into her futon and pull her blanket over her head,  
  
not bothering to change. Her chest ached so badly, desperately trying to relieve the torrent  
  
of tears that fought to come out. Remembered, then forgotten. The room felt suffocating and  
  
she kicked the covers off angrily, there would be no sleep for her tonight. She felt so  
  
infuriated, why should she be the one to feel hurt? Why did she have to feel sad when she  
  
didn't want to? Why didn't Inuyasha feel any of the things she felt? She had always sworn to be  
  
an independent and strong woman, what had gotten in the way? Love, a voice whispered in  
  
her head. Love always gets in the way, it whispered again. She stumbled out of the tangle of  
  
blankets and stormed outside, only to walk right into Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Excuse me." she didn't even look at him and just stepped to the side, only to storm further to  
  
who knew where. He gazed at her, somewhat puzzled at her angry tone. Lifeless before,  
  
energetic the next. She didn't even recognize him. But where was she going so late in the  
  
evening, and unchaperoned as well? He padded quietly behind her, keeping his distance. His  
  
eyes furrowed when he saw her slip behind a waterfall and towards the dragon's lands. What  
  
business did she have with the dragons? The girl in question breathed against the door and it  
  
solemnly opened, as if recognizing the bewilderment of her own emotions. All the dragons  
  
had disappeared to night outings or rest in their caves, leaving the capacious meadow empty.  
  
The moon shone full and bright, the autumn equinox having no affect on the spelled land.  
  
With a reluctant look she began to turn around but a hand grabbed her sleeve and she gave a  
  
jump. Akira crept out of the shadows, or perhaps from the very air itself.  
  
"Akira! Don't you ever make noise when you move?" Kagome exclaimed, trying to slow down  
  
her beating heart.  
  
"You came." he said in a low tone.  
  
"I couldn't sleep, can I stay here for a while?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"You don't even have to ask." he said and took a few steps back. He spread his arms out, as if  
  
trying to draw something to him. A wind suddenly blew, warm and smelling like the ancient  
  
magic of dragons. It covered him and he began to shapechange to his original form. Limb and  
  
body lengthened and covered with scales while wings exploded from shoulder blades,  
  
glittering brightly in moonlight. Kagome stood before it all, the glory of his true form still  
  
taking her breath away.  
  
"There's another less flashier way to change, but I felt like being a bit ostentatious tonight."  
  
Akira said from a long snout, he gave a wink and moved his wings to his side. "Hop on, I want  
  
to take you somewhere."  
  
Kagome tried to keep the grin off her face but she couldn't help it, a ride on a dragon? She  
  
carefully climbed up his enormous arm and in the bend of his neck. Without waiting a second  
  
later he pumped powerful wings and leaped into the air. She gave a shriek but there was no  
  
danger of slipping off, he was too quick to let her fall. They kept on flying higher and higher  
  
till she thought they must have reached the stars. She giggled and reached out as if she really  
  
could. Akira turned his head and gave a dragon smile at the girl on his back, he had  
  
succeeded in cheering her up. Now all that was left was to show her the highest point in the  
  
valley. He did one last spiral then smoothly landed on top of a large stretch of black marble  
  
that floated in the sky. A dizzy Kagome carefully got off and felt the ground lurch under her  
  
feet. Akira, already shapechanged into a human, guided her away from the edge. Every step  
  
left an imprint of gleaming symbols similar to those on the entrance door of the dragons'  
  
land. She leaned down and touched the marble, leaving a trail of sparkling archaic writing.  
  
"What is it?" she asked, peering up at Akira's face. He leaned down and gently pressed his  
  
palm, whispering something. What he had said began to make the whole marble glow with the  
  
writing, it was a stunning and detailed pattern that went in circles and swirls everywhere on  
  
the marble top.  
  
"Sugoi...what does it say? Is it some magic spell to keep this floating?" she traced some of the  
  
symbols and felt a slight tickling sensation underneath her fingertips.  
  
"It's our scrying table. We read the stars here and try to look into the future." Akira explained,  
  
sitting down crosslegged. Kagome laid down on the marble, the stone emanating a  
  
comfortable warmth. She tucked her hands under her head and looked up at the sky, the  
  
carefree feeling of flying gone. Images of Inuyasha forgetting her began to enter into the  
  
empty spaces of her mind.  
  
"Akira, why do people forget?"  
  
"Sometimes because their mind forces them to."  
  
"What if they chose to forget?"  
  
"Then that person has just lost a special memory."  
  
Kagome gave a yawn, feeling the lulling pull of sleep on her eyes. She had just one last  
  
question before falling asleep in the stars.  
  
"Would you forget, Akira?"  
  
"No, I wouldn't."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When she woke up, she was back in her room, tucked into her blankets which had been tidied  
  
out. She sat up and stretched out her arms, trying to remember what had happened last  
  
night. She remembered flying, then that scrying table, then a soothing and dreamless sleep.  
  
Not wanting to see Inuyasha, she went on an early morning ride with a lunch safely tucked in  
  
a bag. Just a few minutes into her riding she heard hoofs in the distance. Her heart leaped in  
  
her mouth, was it Inuyasha? She gradually turned around to see who it was as the rider  
  
galloped passed her then quickly turned her head forward.  
  
"Sesshoumaru?" she said curiously to herself.  
  
Did he even know how to ride horses? She had never seen him outside before. He was either  
  
away on diplomatic missions or in his rooms, doing whatever he usually he did. The  
  
strangeness of seeing the withdrawn and imperious brother of Inuyasha on a ride was  
  
puzzling. He urged his horse a little faster and Kagome tapped her heels to make her own  
  
catch up with him.  
  
"I didn't know you went riding." she said politely, trying to start a conversation.  
  
"I've never had the luxory of free time." he put his horse at a full gallop, leaving her behind.  
  
She furrowed her eyebrows, what was he implying? That all she did was ride horses and  
  
nothing else? She kicked her heels and Sora gave a joyeous shake of her head as her speed  
  
increased. Soon she was neck to neck with Sesshoumaru's own horse, a silver stallion.  
  
Kagome gave a loud laugh and Sora responded by moving even faster, the thrill of the race  
  
filling adrenaline in the veins of both horse and rider. Sesshoumaru's stoic face gave away  
  
nothing as he admired the sight of the high spirited pair. Her long ebony hair whipped in the  
  
wind, throwing the lulling scent of her hair into his face. This easy to please girl was supposed  
  
to be a suspect in the kingdom's future downfall? He scoffed at the idea as he tightened the  
  
reins to slow down his horse. Kagome was waiting a few yards from him, her hair mussed but  
  
eyes glittering with energy.  
  
"We self-conceited princesses don't always waste time." she said.  
  
Was she being sarcastic with him? This child was talking back in a manner completely unlike  
  
the princess she was saying she was.  
  
'Where is your respect to the heir of the kingdom?" his caustic tone not bringing her down at  
  
all.  
  
"Where is your respect to a lady, Prince Sesshoumaru? Surely, you have been taught the  
  
proper manners in regard to treating a female?" she asked, hopping off of Sora. She dug her  
  
hand into a bag hanging on the horse's saddle. She took out two apples and threw one at  
  
Sesshoumaru. He smoothly caught it with one hand and looked at it.  
  
"It's called an apple that has not yet been cut, peeled, sugared, or dressed up in some fancy  
  
dish." she bit the apple and began to climb up a tree's branch, sitting on the one closest to the  
  
ground. "It's not poisoned, if that is why you are staring at your apple so."  
  
"I have no need of nourishment right now."he stated, still gripping the apple in his hand.  
  
"Give it to your horse, I'm sure he will enjoy it after a good run." she finished her apple and  
  
threw the core in the grass.  
  
"So, what is the reason for you following me? I know it's not because you wanted to go for a  
  
ride. You don't strike me as the person to spend a 'free' day outside, especially in the presence  
  
of a contestant for your's or Inuyasha's hand in marriage." she looked at him straight in the  
  
eyes, not ashamed at all of what she had just said. The nerve of the girl! Where was the  
  
customary and traditional manner that all Japanese ladies had? The girl was neither quiet,  
  
courteous, or diffident. In the place of a demure maiden was a free-willed and unconcerned  
  
woman. She was treating him as if he was a close friend or acquaintance and not her royal  
  
highness! He was very hard put not to admonish her for such behavior to a prince. He gritted  
  
his teeth and thought his father very lucky that his son was so obedient.  
  
"My parents want me to spend time with the women before I marry one of them." the lie  
  
slipping off the tongue easier than oil on water.  
  
"Wonderful lie, but not close enough to the truth." she said without hesitating. There was no  
  
sorrow or anger that had shone in her eyes the night before. It was all wiped clean as if it had  
  
never been there in the first place. Was she hiding everything under a confident mask?  
  
"You won't believe your prince?" he asked, still sitting on his horse. She looked at him coolly  
  
with her azure eyes.  
  
"Intuition, Sesshoumaru-sama." she tapped her head with a finger. "I trust my instincts when  
  
it comes to people."  
  
"And you don't trust me?" he asked inquisitively.  
  
"No farther than I can throw that boulder." She gave a sharp whistle and Sora came running  
  
by. Kagome stood on top of the branch and jumped into Sora's saddle, taking the reins in her  
  
hands.  
  
"Good day Sesshoumaru. And please don't follow me anymore." she gave a bow of the head  
  
and Sora took off in a gallop. What an odd brother of Inuyasha. Yet, for all their physical  
  
similarities, she hadn't thought once of Inuyasha while she had talked to Sesshoumaru. How  
  
did that happen when her thoughts for the past few weeks had been consumed by the younger  
  
and wilder brother? It felt nice all the same, not having to feel a painful confusion for just an  
  
hour. If she forgot about Inuyasha around Sesshoumaru, perhaps she should talk to him  
  
more often.  
  
*I think after this chapter, I'll start having some important events happen. I'm getting more and more into this story! and isn't Akira a sweetie? I'm having Kagome not being too battered and teary about Inuyasha forgetting her. She had come to the palace simply for the honor, and didn't want to seem like she was vying for Inuyasha's attention. Of course it still hurt her, duh, who likes being forgotten by their own friend? I hope my chapters are long enough, I'm trying to lengthen them. 


	10. It Won't Change For Us

It Won't Change For Us  
  
She was trapped between his arms, unable to escape from a position she never  
  
expected. His eyes were shimmering from amber to pure blazing gold as they bore into  
  
her own ocean of blue and navy, questioning her and himself.  
  
"What are you doing to me?" he whispered in a shaky voice, unable to tear his gaze  
  
away from hypnotizing eyes that had no idea what effect they were having on him. He  
  
could feel his head dipping closer and closer almost by it's own will, almost. He just  
  
wanted a small taste of those lips that had been haunting him.  
  
*A Few Hours Before*  
  
She gave an annoyed look behind at the shadow that had been tagging along for the past  
  
week. It didn't matter what she would say or do, he would somehow just 'unexpectedly'  
  
show up. At first she patiently allowed him to keep her company, but after the third day  
  
it began to irk her. It was unnerving to be followed by a man you barely knew,  
  
especially one that was such a puzzle. He was always around, whether just standing  
  
there, doing absolutely nothing or adding in sarcastic comments in an emotionless  
  
voice. At first it was just a few words here and there, but then the arguing began. She  
  
had realized by that time that despite her requests for some space, he wouldn't listen.  
  
Before she knew it, she was teasing him all the time, almost as she would do with  
  
Inuyasha. He wasn't fazed at all but was moderately surprised to find himself teasing  
  
her right back. She had finally given up on getting rid of him after having a small fit that  
  
included tempermental jumping up and down. After that, hours and days passed with a  
  
strange normalcy. Wherever she was, all she needed to do was give a slight turn of her  
  
head and she would see him not too far off. It bugged her a little that he always walked  
  
behind her, having eyes watching you was not a pleasant feeling. But having a  
  
companion was nice, just someone there without any strings attached. Sang was too  
  
busy these days to spend time with her, Akira as well, Inuyasha....she didn't really want  
  
to know, and as for those idiotic contenders for the throne, who would want to spend  
  
time with such vain girls? With a heavy sigh Kagome silently walked towards the  
  
garrison, painfully aware of the presence that loomed behind her.  
  
"For kami's sake, would you just walk like a normal person right beside me?" she  
  
snapped, turning around and staring at the person right in front of her. He gave a polite  
  
smile and an insincere bow of a hand.  
  
"If my lady insists." he said courteously.  
  
"This lady would insist many things if she knew they would be given." Kagome muttered  
  
under her breath while continuing her walk. There was already the clashing of metal  
  
and shouts of practice going on. She waved to a familiar figure correcting people here  
  
and there.  
  
"Sango-chan!" Kagome waved again. Sango looked up and grinned, but it faltered a bit at  
  
the sight of Sesshoumaru standing right beside her. What was the prince doing outside  
  
in such a day? And why was he standing right beside Kagome? *Nothing good could  
  
come to this, he might be up to something...*  
  
"Kagome-chan, be with you in a minute!" Sango gave some more instructions to a man  
  
then swiftly walked to her friend.  
  
"I'm sorry I haven't been around much, we're recruiting new soldiers and a lot of them  
  
need work." Sango wiped sweat from her brow but kept a content expression on her  
  
face, happy with what she was doing.  
  
"It's alright, I've been able to keep myself busy. I just wanted to know if you wanted to  
  
have dinner with me."  
  
Before Sango could agree Sesshoumaru cut in.  
  
"She already has dinner plans with me." he stated.  
  
"Nani?? You never said a word about dinner to me at all today, just who are you to-"  
  
Sesshoumaru gave a curt nod at Sango, telling her to go on with her work and started to  
  
drag Kagome back to the palace.  
  
"Since when are you in charge of my schedule?" she fumed. "Gah, you're just so  
  
frustrating sometimes! Just because you're a prince doesn't mean you can order around  
  
everybody!"  
  
He stopped and turned her to him.  
  
"Actually, it does." he said coolly, taking note of the evil glare that she was giving him.  
  
"Not to me." she gave a smile and crossed her arms defiantly, gazing up at him with a  
  
stubborn look set in her eyes. He gave a sigh, the girl was correct on that. So far, she  
  
hadn't done one thing he had told her to. Tell her to sit down, she would remain  
  
standing. Tell her to quiet down, she would raise her voice several decibels higher.  
  
Giving a mental shake of his head he leaned against a nearby tree.  
  
"Would you please join me for dinner tonight?" he tried to sound as cordial and as  
  
pleasant as he could. She dropped her hands in defeat and gave a roll of her sapphire  
  
eyes.  
  
"Ugh, don't ask nicely, it isn't like you." she gave a shiver at the change of tone.  
  
"Fine, have dinner with me or there will be dire consequences." he droned in his court  
  
voice, lazy and uncaring.  
  
"Much better, don't ask for things in that other voice, it creeps me out." she began to  
  
walk again but then stopped and turned around.  
  
"Aren't you coming?" she looked expectantly at him, waiting for him to walk with her. A  
  
friendly wind blew, stirring her hair around so that it carried her scent of wild jasmine  
  
to his nose. The comforting scent that he never complained about. He stared curiously  
  
at her, this mortal whom he had been spending almost all his time with. If it wasn't for  
  
the fact that it was a mission, he would almost believe that there was a bond of  
  
friendship between them. There was already talk going around the palace and the  
  
'blockheads', as Kagome had so kindly named the girls itching to marry a prince, about  
  
him being infatuated with her. He scoffed at such an idea. Why would he debase himself  
  
into spending time with a human simply for her company? *Because she's different, she  
  
isn't like the youkai women who visit. Nor like the pathetic females that had crowded to  
  
the palace for a chance to be a princess* His little voice inside said all knowingly.  
  
*You're falling in love, aren't you? You don't spend time with her because you have to,  
  
you're doing it because you want to* His voice accused nastily. *QUIET* Sesshoumaru  
  
said to himself, angry at the blunt truth of his own feelings.  
  
"Hey, are you planning to stand there all day?" Kagome called out, tapping a dainty foot.  
  
"Why don't you learn some patience, it is a virtue most 'normal' women possess."  
  
Sesshoumaru drawled, trying to appear his usual self. Kagome gave a smirk as her  
  
brilliant eyes flashed a challenge. His heart skipped a beat.  
  
"Well, I'm not like most women, am I?" she began to skip towards the stables, her main  
  
place to visit daily.  
  
*No* He thought quietly. *You're not*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
His father stood before him, his back turned but still standing like a proud king.  
  
Sesshoumaru bowed before him, as he was required to do.  
  
"You called, father?" he said carefully, almost fearful that his father had called on him to  
  
talk about Kagome.  
  
"You haven't picked a girl yet." his father stated, his voice was guarded as if he was  
  
hiding something.  
  
"I do not want to marry a human." he said after letting a long silence pass.  
  
"Do you know the consequences to what you have just said?" his father asked without  
  
turning around.  
  
"Perfectly aware." Sesshoumaru said, eyes daring his father to do his worst.  
  
"Did you ever wonder why I had mortal girls come, instead of youkai females?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Mortals, Sesshoumaru, do not live for long. You can have one and dump the girl in just  
  
a few decades. Ages would pass by and you and I would never change. Humans,  
  
however, will never live to see the changes of this world. We hold this power before  
  
them and they in return look upon us in awe."  
  
"So this whole charade on finding a bride was just a joke?"  
  
"No, of course not. You will have a human bride so that mortals will think they are still a  
  
part of our kingdom. I am aware you are against having a human bride but you will  
  
have one Sesshoumaru, before one week is over, you will choose." his father ordered  
  
sternly.  
  
"What if you are not very fond of the girl?" he asked.  
  
"As long as she's human, it doesn't matter. We can kill her if she is too much trouble." his  
  
father said simply, not caring about the hideous meaning of his own words.  
  
Sesshoumaru was somewhat taken back, his father had never been a cruel ruler in the  
  
years he reigned. What had happened to him these past few weeks? And if he was  
  
threatening to kill his bride...damn it all, why was there a time limit? His father had  
  
never mentioned it before when he had first told Sesshoumaru about his idea of  
  
bringing girls to the palace. Now he had one week to choose. A tiny growl escaped from  
  
his lips and into the ears of his father.  
  
"My word is law, Sesshoumaru, and there is no way you can fight it. Hurry and choose  
  
your bride before I do."  
  
Sesshoumaru bowed to his father and quickly left the room, his face pulling up the mask  
  
he had perfected over the years. His father had given him much to think about.  
  
Primarily, the changes that had taken over the fair ruler, turning him into a warped  
  
person. And following close behind, who he would have to choose as a wife. *It should  
  
be someone stupid and meaningless. Someone that can be just a decoration in the  
  
back....someone who can't hurt me* He growled again, changing directions to the dojo.  
  
He needed to work off the tension building in his neck. Once inside, he ripped a blade  
  
out of the nearest sheath and began to do a complicated kata. Duck, twirl, stab, slice. He  
  
was so concentrated in his movements that he had almost missed the chuckle in the  
  
background. He whirled around to see Kagome sitting down crosslegged in a blue  
  
hakama and a cream colored gi.  
  
"What is so amusing that you are laughing at my expense?" He asked, putting the sword  
  
back in it's sheath.  
  
"You just looked so funny, like you were ready to kill the next person that talked to you.  
  
But on a lighter note, that was beautiful, your kata I mean. Come on, I'd been looking  
  
for you everywhere. Thanks for leaving behind my back, I didn't know my company  
  
was so terrible." She teased as she stood up. Sesshoumaru looked outside to see dusk  
  
starting to fall, shadows becoming longer and darker.  
  
"Go to your room and get dressed, we're having dinner together." He reminded her,  
  
starting to push her towards the direction of her room.  
  
"Why can't I go as I am?" She asked curiously, looking down at what she was wearing.  
  
"It's clean."  
  
"A dinner with this Sesshoumaru is a formal affair." He explained, rolling his eyes. He  
  
couldn't picture her wearing a hakama and gi while having dinner with him, it just  
  
wasn't right. "Go get dressed in something worthy to wear in the presence of royalty."  
  
He gave her one last push as she began walking on her own, muttering in annoyance  
  
about arrogant princes.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
She gave on last look at the mirror. After pushing aside kimono after kimono she finally  
  
found one that suited her taste. It was a light lavender with blue jasmine sprinkled all  
  
over in an attractive pattern. She thought it brought out the blue tones in her own eyes  
  
quite well. She picked a darker lavender obi and had a servant come in and tie it for her.  
  
As for her hair, she let it tumble down freely in its own waves and curls. Kagome gave a  
  
smile to herself in the mirror. Not the most stunning girl around, but she could still pass  
  
as a relatively nice looking one. When she stepped outside she found Sesshoumaru  
  
waiting outside. He had dressed in his usual white kimono with red bordering his  
  
sleeves only minus the heavy looking armor on. It made him look younger and less  
  
menacing without all that covering. She put her hands on her hips as he looked at her  
  
up and down.  
  
"How come I had to change and you get to wear what you usually wear?"  
  
"You clean up quite nicely, come." He held up an arm and she looked at it for a second  
  
then laid a hand on it. He led her towards the palace's traditional gardens, a place she  
  
had yet to venture and fully explore. He had taken her to a rather large lake which  
  
would definitely be sparkling with clear blue water in sunlight. But because it was dark,  
  
moonlight shone on its murky surface creating silvery glints of soft light. A bordering of  
  
weeping willows gave off a look of sad peace around the area. A small outdoor pagoda  
  
had been lit up with numerous red paper lanterns, creating a hazy glow of radiance. A  
  
table with two chairs had been set up in the pagoda with gold lined dishes holding warm  
  
food.  
  
"Kirei." Kagome breathed out as she viewed the charming sight. But for some reason, it  
  
appeared almost....romantic? She kept her thoughts to herself as he held the chair for  
  
her, being ever the gentleman. When he sat across from her, a heavy silence covered  
  
the two. So what was she suppose to do now? Act the part of a lady and bat her  
  
eyelashes instead of saying anything? This was one of the most awkward situations she  
  
had ever been in. A forced dinner with a man she only knew for a week, kami only knew  
  
what went through her head when she accepted the invitation. She bit her lip and gave a  
  
forced smile.  
  
"Beautiful setting, Sesshoumaru, I didn't know you went through such lengths for a  
  
simple dinner." She took a sip of her soup, delicious and refined, as always.  
  
"Only the best for the best." He replied, taking delicate bites of his grilled eel. The  
  
comment broke the ice and she could feel herself relax at his usual arrogant words. She  
  
had been worried that he might get...oh, who knew, she didn't want to think about it.  
  
She just gave a snort with the soup still in her mouth. He raised one eyebrow as she  
  
began to choke on her food.  
  
"Have you ever learned to eat like a sophisticated lady and not an 8 year old?" He  
  
inquired with his chopsticks in the air, ready to grab a vegetable.  
  
"No fair Sesshoumaru, not everybody learned to eat like a stiff noble since age 1."  
  
Kagome retorted coolly, regaining her composure.  
  
"I am not stiff noble."  
  
"If that's what keeps you going through the night..."  
  
It went back and forth, light insults that kept both amused and at ease. Masks were  
  
taken off, sorrows were folded away, and it became nothing but a dinner between  
  
friends. Once dinner was done, servants came right on cue and took the table and chairs  
  
away. Kagome sat on the pagoda's railing while leaning against the beam on the left, her  
  
feet dangling a few inches from the floor. He took his place right next to her, gazing out  
  
at the glistening waters that lapped against the building. Suddenly, the Empress's  
  
warning came back to her and the calming atmosphere from before was pushed away  
  
by worry.  
  
"Ano, Sesshoumaru, do you think the future can change from the course it's on now?"  
  
She asked glumly.  
  
"The future changes every second, how can it have a course?" She gave a dejected sigh  
  
at his words, wishing it was true. But the gloomy feeling in the pit of her stomach said  
  
otherwise.  
  
"If-if something happens in the future, can we still stay the way we are despite what  
  
happens?" He gave a surprised look at her request, was she asking for a lasting  
  
friendship? She looked down at her lap with a blush. He reached over and cupped her  
  
cheek, tilting it up to him. Her azure eyes had fear in them, not fear of him but fear for  
  
the future. It made Sesshoumaru feel the sudden urge to be there for her, to always  
  
protect her from harm and to stand between whatever trouble came along. Then a  
  
different urge took over him, making him lean towards her. She was trapped between  
  
his arms, unable to escape from a position she never expected. His eyes were  
  
shimmering from amber to pure blazing gold as they bore into her own ocean of blue  
  
and navy, questioning her and himself.  
  
"What are you doing to me?" he whispered in a shaky voice, unable to tear his gaze away  
  
from hypnotizing eyes that had no idea what effect they were having on him. He could  
  
feel his head dipping closer and closer almost by it's own will, almost. He just wanted a  
  
small taste of those lips that had been haunting him. She could feel her own eyes closing  
  
by a strong will from within as she anticipated something that would be a catalyst to her  
  
own feelings inside. A butterfly's brush and there was a cough in the background. She  
  
opened her eyes to see Sesshoumaru looking at the person who had interrupted them.  
  
The youkai's aura positively glowed with annoyance at the servant, who was cowering  
  
under his glare. Kagome laid a gentle hand on his arm, silently telling him to control  
  
himself.  
  
"S-S-Sesshoumaru-sama, the king demands your presence without delay." The servant  
  
gave a quick bow and fled to wherever would get him farthest away from the prince.  
  
The said prince turned around and looked down at Kagome with an unreadable look. It  
  
wasn't as if he was wearing his court mask, but more like she just couldn't decipher what  
  
his eyes were saying.  
  
"The future may change for the world, but it will not change for us." With that said, he  
  
disappeared in the traces of his own magic. _________________________________________________________________  
  
*ACK, don't look at me that way! I had to end it there!! *ducks bullets and knives* It was just too perfect, but hey, at least I started some sess/kag romance!! Sigh, I was looking at how many reviews I was getting and man, what a mouth opener, I'm still surprised at how many people like this story (including myself). So just a HUGE thank you for those who have supported me all the way for this story!!!! and for those who are reading my other stories, I've updated all of them as well. unfortunately, I had to take off Trial of the Shikon Guardians because I lost my interest in that story. I thought the plot itself was unique, but I just couldn't think of anyway to get it starting again. Someone else could use the storyline if they want to, I don't mind. But I know I can't think of anything for the story.  
  
Black Rose Lady: I might add in a bit of Akira and Kagome fluff here and there, but I have it in my mind to make this a kag/sess. but ur right, the akira/kag pairing does sound sweet  
  
Sour Schuyler: No, Sesshoumaru wasn't refering to Rin, he was just refering to the female population in general. and this will be a sess/kag, sorry! i'm a sess/kag fan. and I will most likely add in the other characters, but I'm having the story center a lot around Kagome, i'm not really good with sango/miroku romances 


	11. Changes in Motion

Changes in Motion  
  
Akira looked away from the scene, his proud head sloping just the tiniest bit towards the ground. Candlelight could do wonders in making a certain individual bloom into a delicate picture, an epiphany of beauty. She seemed almost out of his reach, as if he couldn't touch her with such unworthy hands. And yet, the powerful yearning to take her in his arms and comfort her was overwhelming for she had yet to know the events that would take place very soon. The vision shown tonight would prove true, undoubtly, since every vision that had appeared on the scrying table had come to pass. And his voice ached so badly to tell her what would happen, to save her the trouble and the grief...and the heartache. But he couldn't, it was against the rules of prophecy. Those with the ability to see were only allowed to see, not change. Only those having the ability to change were given this freedom. With the slow and sure steps of a dragon, he noiselessly walked backed home. But if you payed close attention to his strides, you could see the heaviness of a burdened soul.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Things have changed." His father said as he paced back and forth amidst the darting shadows of candlelight.  
  
"You have called me here just to tell me this?" Sesshoumaru said slowly, still annoyed at the servant interrupting the evening. His father stopped his pacing to look into his son's eyes with a hidden stare.  
  
"Were you preoccupied with something more important, Sesshoumaru?" His name slithered out almost slyly.  
  
"No." He lied. His father stared at him a moment longer then returned to his almost agitated pacing.  
  
"Good. I have changed my mind, I don't want both of my sons marrying a human, there is no point in that. You are excused from marrying since you are heir to the kingdom. Inuyasha will be the one marrying a human." The king sat down before his desk and drummed his fingers on the gleaming wood. He was uncharacteristically impatient, a trait that had never been shown before. His father's strange behavior was disturbing and completely unlike the man he was a few weeks ago.  
  
"Who is Inuyasha marrying?" He asked curiously.  
  
"We won't be sure till you give me your report on Kagome. I am giving you two more days to tell me whether or not she displays any unnatural powers or evil intent. I need the report as quickly as you can get it but two days is the limit." His father waved away his son with a hand, treating Sesshoumaru as if he was a lowly servant. Sesshoumaru allowed himself one narrowed stare at his father before gliding through the opened door, sliding it shut behind him.  
  
Kagome, he had left her all by herself, would she still be there? He sped across the palace grounds in a blur that couldn't be detected by the human eye. A wind from his own god-like speed whipped the air and caused the trees to groan in movement. He jerked to a stop in front of the pagoda, the candles starting to blow out one by one till only a few were left. She was leaning over the painted balcony and staring into the inky black water below. He opened his mouth to call her name but then closed it, his father's words reminding him of the duty he had to do.  
  
Duty, for some reason, he hated it now...no, not hate, despised. The burden that had once been invisible was now pushing down at his shoulders with an incredible force. Duty was no longer a part of the position of a respected prince and son, it was no longer his sole reason in decisions. There wasn't any honor in spying on a girl who couldn't even handle being around harmless earthworms. How was she to be the one who would bring the downfall of their kingdom? He had read the prophecy and it was too vague. There was also the chance that the scribe could have written it incorrectly or left something out. There were too many holes in this but his father seemed to be consumed by that aged scroll. But...there had been that night when she had been glowing and he had smelled magic coming from her. Was it destructive magic? Who knew, he hadn't been able to analyze it because of how foreign it was to his knowledge. Yet, he felt reluctance in telling his father this. *Two days....damn it. There has to be some way out of this* He savored one last glance of the girl before zipping away again in his god- like speed. She turned around at the hushed sound of a blowing wind but found nothing except the closing darkness.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Confusion again. It seemed like it decided it enjoyed the presence of her company and continued to aggravate her further. It was the morning after the 'dinner' and she felt a strange reluctance in going out and greeting the world like she normally did. Maybe, was she afraid? Afraid that things would change despite what he told her last night? She wanted to scoff at the idea but it rang a certain degree of truth.  
  
She had nearly kissed the emotionless and powerful ice prince, Taiyoukai Sesshoumaru. The man who struck fear into thousands at the simple sound of his name. The man who lived for responsibility and honor had nearly kissed her, the emotional and powerless daughter of a second rank warrior, Higurashi Kagome. The girl who struck fear in no one and was afraid of insects. She gave a giggle at her thoughts, feeling better about herself. Last night felt like a dream, hazy and unreal. Maybe nothing happened at all - but then why did he almost kiss her?  
  
And she had been leaning towards his lips too, her heart beating a million beats per second. She couldn't be in love with the infamous Sesshoumaru, could she? Her body had never reacted this badly with Inuyasha. There was a knock at her door and a piece of paper slid underneath. She picked it up and gave an admiring sigh at the script. It was as lovely as the dragon script on the scrying table, flowing characters that were perfect in every stroke and slash. And who could it be from? She didn't even have to guess, who else would write in such beautiful and elegant writing? It was short and translated from the court language of royals, it simply read that he would be immersed in much business today and wouldn't be able to spend time in her company. She folded the note and threw it onto her dressing table.  
  
Well, without him around today, maybe she could brave the archery field and practice her shooting. She had not picked up a bow in quite a while and didn't feel like losing her skill. She slipped on a white hakama and a sea blue gi that matched her eyes. With a black silk ribbon, she pulled her hair up in a high ponytail and tied a large bow. While she was walking down the hall that led outside, a loud argument caught her ears and she couldn't stop herself from overhearing.  
  
"Why is it taking so much time? Why are you stalling this for so long father?" Inuyasha's voice slid through the thin rice paper, he was stomping back and forth and his annoyance was clear by his heavy steps.  
  
"Inuyasha, what is more important, your kingdom or a girl? As wonderful as Kikyo is, we cannot know for sure until Sesshoumaru gives me the report on that other girl." The king's deep voice crept out.  
  
"Why are you worrying about that so much anyway? Neither Kagome or Kikyo have any evil intent or magic or whatever you're insinuating that they have. I can't believe you even asked him to hang out with Kagome." Inuyasha said angrily. "Thank kami he wasn't spying on Kikyo or I would have-"  
  
"Inuyasha..."  
  
Their voices died down and Kagome tiptoed away till she was out of their vicinity. Spying? Reporting? What was that all about? Was Sesshoumaru ordered to spy on her? It must be some mistake, he would never do that to her....would he? Her feet automatically took her to the archery shed and her fingers mindlessly grabbed a bow and quiver of arrows. Why did the king think that she or Kikyo had evil intent? She scowled viciously as she aimed at the target far away. Now, not only was she somewhat confused on Sesshoumaru almost kissing her, she was also confused on the conversation she had overheard.  
  
THUD. Bullseye. She slipped another arrow on and aimed again. And what in kami's name did Kikyo play in this? THUD. Another bullseye. Her fingers reached to grab another arrow but stopped and flopped uselessly against her side. Inuyasha and Kikyo loved each other. She had come to terms in that, at least in her mind. There was still a bit of resistance in her heart but her mind tightened its hold over the organ.  
  
Still, a question racked her head every once in a while when she had too much time to think. If things hadn't changed, would their relationship have gone further? If they had remained closer, perhaps, would he have fallen in love with her instead? She knew she couldn't mourn over what she never had, but the possibility of something happening managed to make her yearn for the past days. It also made her hope that the old friendship would come back and that Inuyasha would snap to his senses.  
  
"Baka Inuyasha." She muttered out loud. "Baka Sesshoumaru."  
  
"Baka Akira?" A voice whispered in her ear. Kagome turned to see the smiling face of Akira, his silver hair tied in a low tail.  
  
"Akira-kun!" She grinned at the dragon. "What are you doing here?"  
  
She asked him as they both sat down on the grass. He stretched his long legs out and faced his head up to the sky. The massive expanse of light blue went up forever with cottony puffs of white clouds marking the sky here and there. Some of the clouds looked close enough to touch if you reached out your hand. He lifted a hand and traced a character in the air with a sparkle of golden magic following the path of his fingers. The character slowly floated up and a warm breeze began to blow around the field.  
  
"You didn't visit for a while so I decided to stop by and see how you are." He turned his head down and looked at her, blue meeting blue. "So how are you?" The way the words came out felt like he was implying something else and she had a feeling he was asking much more. Her grin dropped and her normally lifted eyes drooped.  
  
"Confused." She admitted to him with worry tinged on the edge of her voice. "I don't want things to change anymore, Akira, but things just started getting complicated. I thought the least of my troubles would be putting up with Inuyasha but then there was last night and-"  
  
She stopped, embarassed that she had almost told the dragon. He turned his gaze away from her and looked back up at the sky. A wind had driven the clouds over the mountains in the north so that the sky was crystal clear.  
  
"Kagome... change frightens you, doesn't it?"  
  
"I don't fear change, I fear what change will bring. And lately, I've been getting this funny feeling in my stomach, like something bad is going to happen soon. I know I sound stupid, but it's as if I'm expecting the world to end. What do you think it means, Akira-kun?" She pulled her knees up and hugged them tight to her chest. He allowed a long moment to pass before standing up and brushing the dirt and grass from his clothes.  
  
"Brace yourself, Kagome, for the future." He said before giving her a wink and disappearing into thin air.  
  
"You didn't answer my question....baka Akira." She whispered.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
He had spent the whole night in the library looking for a forgotten myth and came upon the scroll wedged in a tiny compartment in the far corner. Nearly half a millenia ago, there had been a particularly powerful Taiyoukai who came up with a spell that would turn his human lover into a youkai. It was used once, then discarded by the family for its rather unnatural use. Even to now, a powerful youkai mating with a human was looked down upon, which was why the scroll was never mentioned again. If he used the spell, then he wouldn't have to worry about his father killing Kagome.  
  
Lying to his father in his face would never work, especially when he was so worked up over prosecuting one of the girls. Kagome had magic, there was no doubt of that ever since he had found her that night. And even though he had felt no evil from it, his father would most likely rule her out as the twin who would bring destruction upon the kingdom. The spell couldn't work without marriage and if she could just agree, they could marry in secret and start the spell.  
  
Now the hard part was convincing her without telling her straight out that he had been ordered by his father to keep an eye on her. He gave a small wince as he waited for her to come, knowing she would turn him down without another thought if he told her the truth. It would be better if she wasn't told about the prophecy. But what would they do after the spell? He sighed. That bridge would be crossed when they come upon it. There was a small tap before the door slid open. He didn't even have to look up to know who it was. The person, who by habit, never bothered to introduce herself in his presence. She quietly sat before him on the tatami mat laid out and a servant came in with tea. The soft shuffling of a pair of feet and the quiet sliding of the door told him the servant had left.  
  
"You called me?" she said as she began to pour the steaming tea into the cups with steady fingers. "I thought you had business to take care of."  
  
"I have come to my decision. I pick you." His resolute voice rang out in the quietness of the room. She stopped pouring the tea and looked up.  
  
'What?" Kagome's face furrowed in confusion. "My parents have pushed me to take a bride and it will be you, seeing that there is no better choice." The lie slipped from his tongue easily after years of practice. There was a long silence as Kagome tried to process the information she had just received. Did he just ask for her hand in marriage, however badly worded it was? A warm breeze brought in the scents of the garden just outside and she turned her head to look through the open balcony doors.  
  
Marriage, she hadn't thought of that in a long time. It had fallen from her mind after Inuyasha and she had tried to think no more of courting. She had smothered the hope of love since coming to the palace. At least, until last night when they had dinner together under the stars. A small form of hope had lodged itself in her heart. Had he forgotten already of his whispered words of comfort and promise? Perhaps he had, and her spirits fell further.  
  
"So that makes me your last resort?" Her voice hinting a bit of anger.  
  
"And if you marry me you will turn into a full youkai." he added, ignoring her question. *Take it, take the offer* He silently pleaded inside.  
  
"A human like me isn't enough, Sesshoumaru? Marriage is an act of love. How can there be love if you are asking me to change who I am?" She could feel tears stinging her eyes, coming perilously close to falling. So was this the truth? Had he really been spying and reporting on her because the king had ordered him to? All those times he had seemed so sincere...was it just an act? What was it about love that kept breaking her heart?  
  
"A human would never be accepted on the throne. So you will consider my offer? I am your last chance Kagome." Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth at his own words, why did it sound so much worse than he intended? Kagome could feel her anger dissolving away into turmoil. Her last chance for what? And why wouldn't a human be accepted when all these human girls were in the palace for the princes to marry? Unless, he disliked her being a human. Then what was the point of him being with her the past week? So was it true then? The only reason he was in her company so often was because he really was spying on her?  
  
"Despicable." she whispered.  
  
"What did you just say?" the prince demanded.  
  
Kagome raised her head and a tear dropped from her overflowing eyes.  
  
"I said despicable."  
  
"You dare say that after my proposal? Do you not know the millions of girls out there who would die for what I would give you?!"  
  
"And the millions more who would wonder why you couldn't love a mortal being? Better yet, why you couldn't love at all. Why don't you take a good look at who you have become! An arrogant, sneaky, heartless-" Kagome's voice came out stronger and louder.  
  
*Slap*  
  
He couldn't believe what he had just done. Lost control...and struck a woman. His hand was frozen and his golden eyes were wide open in surprise. He was on his knees and the sudden movement had spilt the tea pot. The world stopped as the warm liquid spreaded further and further apart. She slowly lifted a hand and gently touched her cheek. It was burning red and there were spots of a bruise starting to show. "I-" he stammered, still shocked from what he had did, the anger at such simple words. Her hand remained where it was, resting on her swollen cheek. Her eyes abruptly turned sad, though not completely, a bit of pride was still in those bottomless depths. "I understand now." she said, uttering the words slowly. "I was what you needed, not what you wanted."  
  
]"You're making no sense." he snapped, delving into his mind for a way to apologize. How had it come to this? The simple intention of asking her to be his wife had turned into a fierce argument on both sides. She gave a small apologetic smile and bowed submissively, making sure that her forehead rested on the floor. She remained that way for a minute, creating an increasingly uncomfortable atmosphere.  
  
"What are you doing?" he finally said, his mind teetering on the brink of impatience.  
  
"Giving the proper goodbye from a low human to a royal highness of the imperial family. Now if you'll excuse this worthless mortal, I shall leave your imperial and immortal presence immediately."  
  
Before he could argue she got up in one fluid movement and was out the door before words could form in his mouth. He angrily squeezed his hand into a fist, very tempted to punch a wall. Here he had come, offering a human of all things the spell needed to be a part of the most powerful race on earth...and a chance for survival. And she waved it all away as if it was nothing. The honor, the respect, the power....and she didn't want it. It had taken his pride to give such an offer to a mortal; marriage and a chance to be a youkai. Why had she refused the chance to spend eternity with him? Did that mean that she didn't like him at all? Never had he been refused so coldly and without explanation.  
  
"If she doesn't want it, then so be it." he snarled to the silent air. But it didn't help the feeling that perhaps it wasn't he whom she had in mind for marriage.  
  
_________________________________________________________________  
  
*Ah, so Sesshoumaru offers Kagome marriage to save her from his ruthless father. This is just the first of other events that are going to happen. It's funny how things get muddled up when you aren't honest with each other.  
  
ALL REVIEWERS: Eh, I've gotten this question so many times and now I think I'll just to put it as a reminder on every chapter. peoples, ya gotta read! anywho, this is a SESS/KAG, though i'm pretty sure everybody was getting different vibes before chappie 10. i'm a confusing author sometimes, can't help it. and sorry to all the authors who were hoping for an Akira/kag, i just added him in for spice and cuz dragons are cool. 


	12. Beautiful Reflection

Author's Notes: you guys are probably pissed off at me for the late update, but I got a good excuse! I swear! I just moved to a totally new city and things have been hectic for a long time. That and I had to adjust to a new school who's got wayyyy too many anal-retentive teachers. Sigh, I sincerely apologize for the late update!  
  
Beautiful Reflection  
  
Beautiful reflection, can you show me what isn't there?  
  
Defy your limits, your boundaries, and show me what can't be seen  
  
No ripple will mar your perfection or your flaws  
  
Reflect the eternity of all that is not true  
  
Illuminate and captivate the lies within  
  
Leave only the beautiful reflection of what isn't there  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
He felt consumed by it. Like it was digging into his pores and straining to get into the soul, the center of his being. Every movement and thought was overrun by this strange desire that had come out of nowhere. It was subtle at first, subtle enough that he waved away the harsh words and angry thoughts that began to appear in a normally patient and generous mind. But against his wishes and struggles, it grew into some hideous beast that bared its teeth. The desire was taking over everything and though he had fought a brave battle before, he knew he was losing the war. And the knowledge of his weakness against some desire, made him forfeit more of himself. It grew every day, whether he embraced it or not. Control was slipping away from hands that were becoming more obedient and senile every day. And sometimes he would beg it to stop, times when he felt his old self again. But the desire just bit down harder on its powerful hold over his mind, and his old self would submissively shrink back into the darker corners inside. Where had this desire come from? And why was it after him? The endless questions that followed one after another did nothing to alleviate the growing fear that things were beginning to change around him. The beast inside roared its presence and settled back down to pace back and forth, watching and waiting for the right time to finally come out. And he feared that day most of all.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Being pathetic was not something she was used to. She had spent all her life under the shadow of being a woman, but never had she felt herself dragged into the depths of such misery and depression. She had allowed it to happen again and the pain of such stupidity caused the aches in her chest to intensify. The logical part of her heart told her that she shouldn't have lost her temper. But the sensual part was out to wreak havoc on the next male she happened to see. She angrily swiped at her eyes again and rubbed the moisture on her hands on her yukata. No matter how many times she called herself stupid, it didn't come close to how pathetic she felt. She had been passed down from one brother to another. So much for learning from your mistakes.  
  
This whole escapade of living in the imperial palace had lost its sparkle and glitter and now she found herself yearning to go home. At least she knew what each day possessed and she wouldn't have to worry about stupidity being her best friend. As for her parents, they would just have to accept the fact that their daughter wouldn't receive any honor. She gave a wince as she imagined her mother's livid face. Perhaps, she should at least remark on the compliments the queen gave. She absently nodded her head in agreement to her course of action. She would pack up and leave this place. She had never felt like she truly belonged to high society life anyways.  
  
"Stupid stupid stupid." She angrily muttered to herself again as her feet unknowingly took her to a different place. She glanced up to see a pair of unfamiliar doors that looked heavy and foreboding. She turned her head side to side to see where she was but the hallway was unfamiliar and strangely bare. Her fingers began to itch to open the door and she rubbed them hard against her clothes. The itch in her fingers was growing worse and when she lifted them towards the door's handles the itch soothed away. With a careless shrug she heaved open the door only to find it smoothly move almost on its own.  
  
"Ano-is anybody here?" She called out but the darkness only threw back her echo. She took one step in and something grabbed her shoulders, slamming the door and throwing her to the ground. A scream threatened to climb out of her throat but something told her that nobody would hear her cries.  
  
"Who's there?" She said, terror seizing her muscles so that she couldn't move. There was a chuckle at her right and she swiveled her head to that direction, eyes and ears straining to detect any being around. There was another chuckle, louder this time, and it was right near her ear. Her arm reflexively hit around but there was nothing but air.  
  
"Who's there?!" She called out more desperately, the terror gradually becoming worse. There was a muffled whispering coming from the middle of the room, accented syllables and strange pitches of a masked voiced sounded foreign and strange to her ears.  
  
Then the whispering stopped and Kagome could see something glistening in the middle of the room. Cautiously, Kagome inched to the glistening object and found herself near the edge of a small pond. She knelt on the ground and slowly touched the water, wondering if it was an illusion. Ripples marred the flat surface before she could even touch the liquid and for a second, she could have sworn she saw the image of an old woman in the pond's reflective facade. The rippling waters automatically stilled in her presence and she found herself bending over to stare at the true picture the waters would show. She saw eternity in the pond, stars pressing so far into the water that she felt like she was being pulled into their attraction. Then eternity erased away to show her own face staring back at her with a look of infinite patience, and to her surprise, a strange sadness. She lifted her hand and touched her cheek, carefully watching her own reflection do the same.  
  
"What is it suppose to show me?" Kagome asked softly and her reflection grew sadder. "Is my reflection supposed to have some meaning?" She bent closer to the waters in the hope of seeing something her reflection was aware of. "What do you see that I can't?" Suddenly, her reflection gave a wry grin and pointed up to Kagome. "Me?" Her reflection nodded and the wry grin faded back into the strange sadness, a look of worry in her face. "Why are you-why am I sad?" She asked curiously and the reflection shook her head, making the sadness deepen. She gave one last grin, waved, and allowed eternity to take over the waters again. Kagome hesitantly touched the waters and found her hand touching the hard wooden floor.  
  
She sat up straight and blinked, the pond had disappeared and she was back in the dark room again. Alone again. She gave a sigh and closed her eyes, trying to decipher what had just happened. Her reflection was alive in those waters. So did that mean she's two different people? What kind of magic showed living reflections? There was a deep groan of the door opening and bright light streaked the dark room, allowing Kagome to finally see where she was. The room was small and untidy, dirt chasing the corners and cobwebs decorating the ceiling. There was a small shelf in the far left corner holding an aged scroll that looked like it had been read many times over. The king was standing in the doorway with a look of astonishment on his face and Kagome quickly stood up and gave a low bow.  
  
"I'm so sorry! I lost my way and then I got locked in here and-"  
  
"How did you get in here?" The king broke through in a sharp voice, his golden eyes growing wild. "How did you break through the wards?!"  
  
"Eh, wards?" Kagome asked weakly. What was the use of wards for such an unimportant looking room?  
  
"The most powerful wards of the Taiyoukai family have been put on this door, allowing nobody but a blood member of the royal family in. HOW did you break the wards?" The king asked dangerously, drawing closer to Kagome in slow steps.  
  
"I-I didn't do anything your majesty. I'm telling the truth! I got lost and- and I went in here. There were no wards on the door preventing me from getting in." Kagome defended herself but start to inch away from the king who was steadily getting closer.  
  
"Magic." The king said in a hushed voice, and then he laughed. A great boastful laugh that had frightening cruelty laced in. "You have magic, don't you, Higurashi Kagome?" He gave another laugh. "Magic, I knew it was you. You're the one, the one in the scrolls. And now I know what I can do to make it all go away." His eyes gave a flash of anger and Kagome only saw his blurry hand before she fell unconscious.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The whole left side of her face ached so badly that tears immediately sprang to her eyes when she woke up. A hard chill entered her skin and she pushed herself up with frozen hands. She was in a dark room again; only this one wasn't as dark as before. There was the faint flickering glow of a faraway torch, revealing the iron bars of a dungeon. She flew to the bars and pointlessly shook the confining pieces of metal.  
  
"Why am I in here?!!" She angrily shouted. "Let me out right now!!!"  
  
A guard promptly appeared and with the butt of his sword, he shoved her back so that she fell on her rear.  
  
"Quiet down in there or else." The guard said coldly and there was a threat in his eyes. "Cursed witch!" He spat out and kicked at her cell bars before stomping back to his original position.  
  
"Why am I in here?" She said in a wavering voice and the ache on her face made her remember. The king must have hit her, but why did he put her in a dungeon for accidentally going into a room? She miserably sat down on the biting stone ground and drew her knees under her chin, trying to preserve what little heat she had. There was an achingly loud screech of a door opening and the soft footsteps of several people walking. The group stopped before her cell and Kagome met the scrutiny of four pairs of eyes. It was the king and three strange men that had an odd glitter in their dark eyes. She sprang to her feet and went up to the bars.  
  
"Why am I in a dungeon?! I did nothing wrong to deserve this treatment!!" Her cries were only met with a feral grin from the king and a hungry look in the other men's eyes. One of the men gave an approving nod.  
  
"We can feel it, its faint, but there. It's not surprising you weren't able to feel it before, your majesty, she masked it exceptionally well for a human. We should be able to proceed with the tests promptly and if the contents of the scroll is correct...." The man gave a quick glance to his companions. "Then the prophecy will be able to be broken."  
  
"Get on with it then, I want this done quickly and efficiently." The king snapped and regally straightened his rich robes before striding away.  
  
"W-what are you planning to do to me?" Kagome backed away from the cell door as one of the men motioned for a guard to open the cell.  
  
"Just a few tests, its harmless....at least on our part." The man chuckled as all three gathered around her. "We just need to ransack your mind for information."  
  
He roughly grabbed her hair and pulled her towards them so that their hands locked on to her head. An agonizing pain seared first through her head and then throughout the rest of her body. A scream tore out of her throat, one after another till she couldn't bring enough oxygen inside herself to utter any noise. Her body began to convulse from the pain and a bright light filled her eyes, soft and comforting. She could feel all her pain slip away into a wonderful bliss and she lazily reached out her hands as if she was embracing something. Words were being whispered all around her, the same language that she had heard before. A motherly hand brushed her cheek and Kagome reached out to it but it disappeared. A chilling touch pulled her away from the bliss and her eyes took her back to where she was in the cell. Her hands were tingling from a pressing warmth and she looked down to see fading blue sparkles at her fingertips. The three men had disappeared; the only evidence of their coming was the opened cell door. Silence penetrated the room and she rubbed the sides of her head, remnants of the pain still there.  
  
"Are you alright?" A guard sauntered into the cell but dropped his staff upon seeing the dark room empty. He backed away from Kagome with terror in his eyes and slammed the cell door closed, his fingers fumbling to lock the door. He quickly shouted for his other comrades to help him and he scampered off, shouting the word witch so that it echoed everywhere. More shouts joined his and there was the crashing sound of a slammed door. Kagome looked down at her hands again but the blue sparkles had disappeared and the warmth was quickly being sucked away by the iciness of the cell. Witch? Why were they calling her a witch? What had happened? She remembered those men and that horrible pain in her head. They said they were going to extract information from her but where did they go? Something terrible was going to happen soon, she could feel it in her gut, a heavy feeling of apprehension. The door screeched open again and she heard frantic steps coming close to her. It was the king surrounded by a handful of guards. The king looked into the cell and paled when he saw only her.  
  
"Are you sure you didn't see them leave?!" He said, grabbing one of the soldiers by the neck. "I-I'm sure, your majesty! We were all standing guard by the door, like we always do and nobody went past. I saw a strange light in her cell so I went to check it out and they weren't in there. Only her." The soldier spoke in a panicked tone and pointed at Kagome fearfully as the king slowly released his hold.  
  
"You're already starting the prophecy aren't you, you cursed witch!" The king spat out. "I'm not going to watch my kingdom fall to ruins because of one stupid girl!" He turned to one of the guards. "Fetch the commoner Akitaka right now and alert all the nobles to meet in the throne room." The guards all gave a salute and scampered to do their king's bidding, leaving Kagome and the king alone. He paced back and forth, stealing looks at her.  
  
"It'll all be over now, I get rid of you and the kingdom is safe." He rambled. "With you out of the way, everything will return to normal."  
  
"Get rid of me? Are you planning on k-killing me??" Kagome asked. "I didn't DO anything! All I did was accidentally go into that room! That isn't a crime worth killing for!!!"  
  
"Shut up, ever since you came to this palace, you've been putting magic on my entire family!! Don't think I was too stupid to see it!"  
  
"What magic?!!! I don't have any magic and I would never do anything to your family!" Kagome shouted back.  
  
"My own wife is dying from an illness no one knows, but I'm sure you already know that. Or how both my sons were entranced with you in a few days?! What magic did you seduce them with? If it wasn't for Kikyo, my sons would have fallen further into your games!"  
  
A guard had already come back with a ragged man with him. The king dismissed the guard with a hand and turned intently toward the commoner.  
  
"You know why I called you?" The king asked. "Do you have your things?"  
  
"Of course your majesty, nobody else in this kingdom has the brand." Akitaka bowed deeply.  
  
"I have been waiting for this day for many years."  
  
"Good, hurry up and do your duty, I need my kingdom to be safe as soon as possible."  
  
"I'll need a fire to heat up the brand, your majesty."  
  
"W-what are you going to do with me?" Kagome nervously as Akitaka sifted through a patched brown bag hanging at his side.  
  
The king ignored her question and muttered a short word under his breath. From his hand came a bright flame that quickly ate up the darkness of the room. With a nod, Akitaka slipped on thick gloves and took out a short brand from his bag. He shoved the brand into the overly bright flame and it quickly started to glow a yellow orange.  
  
"You're going to brand me?!! What do you think you're going?? I didn't do anything wrong!!" Kagome backed away as the brand grew brighter and hotter. The king closed his hand and the flame vanished without a trace. With a little pull, the king opened the locked cell door and allowed Akitaka to step in.  
  
"If you make one move, you'll be killed, prophecy or not, understood?" The king said coldly, pulling out a slim dagger from the folds of his robe.  
  
"Well girl, where'll it be? Right cheek or left?" Akitaka asked cheerfully as he carefully held the brand near her face. She tried to push the man away but the king rested the dagger against her throat in a blurry move.  
  
"Answer him." He said through gritted teeth.  
  
"As if it matters!" She said in a choked voice as the brand loomed closer to her skin. "I'm going to tell every person I know what kind of king you are underneath it all!!"  
  
"Not if the person obeys the laws of the kingdom under penalty of death."  
  
Akitaka roughly grabbed her chin and pressed the brand onto her let cheek. She struggled against his hold and tried to scream but any attempt moved the muscles in her cheek, causing the pain to increase even more. The king held her down but the act was hastily done and Akitaka pulled the brand away, taking off a layer of skin along with it. Kagome fell to the ground and grabbed the side of her face, crying hoarsely as her hand helplessly hovered above the branded character on her left cheek. But the crying made it worse as the salt droplets flowed into the mass of 3rd degree burns and open tissue.  
  
"Why are you doing this?" She said amidst her tears. "I didn't do anything."  
  
The king latched on to her arm and proceeded to drag her out of the cell. She tried to resist but his overwhelming strength offered no release. The two passed wide-eyed servants and other inhabitants of the palace but none moved a hand to help her. She kicked, she punched, but he was unaffected by her weak attacks. Finally they arrived before the very throne room Kagome had entered when she had first arrived at the palace. It was packed with the various nobles of the kingdom and she heard a cry from Inuyasha who was sitting in his ordained seat.  
  
"Father? What are you doing to her?!" He asked but the king ignored his son's question and threw her at the front of the room. He slashed a magical character in the air and Inuyasha's mouth immediately closed against his will. He pushed against the magic but his mouth was clamped shut.  
  
"Nobles," The room, which had risen in volume upon seeing the weeping girl and the burn on her cheek, grew silent as they all watched the king with careful eyes. "I had informed you all sixteen years ago of the prophecy that would either save our land or destroy it. And before your eyes, here it is. The fated girl who would bring to ruin to all we worked hard for." There were several gasps from the crowd but nearly all the eyes immediately turned hard on Kagome except one.  
  
"Kill her!" Shouted a voice and others nodded their head in agreement.  
  
"It has been written that death of the girl from the hands of the kingdom would result in an even larger catastrophe. Which gives the reason to the law I ordered sixteen years ago. If any person in this kingdom aids an outcast in any way, it will mean instant death." The king looked around the room. "I want every one of you to remind the people in your provinces of this law."  
  
"What will you do with the girl?" A man asked.  
  
"She will be exiled, an outcast, and if we are lucky, she will die on her own, leaving the kingdom free from her evil doings. And if any of you happens to be against this, I suggest you speak now."  
  
Kagome could only watch through blurry eyes at the silence that dominated the room. Not one person spoke up and every pair refused to even make contact with hers. She pleaded frantically with her eyes but still, nobody looked at her. She felt the king smile generously and he grabbed her by the arm again. He was blocked from his path by Inuyasha who was standing in front of him with blazing eyes. His mouth was still locked tight but his eyes flared a bright gold. He had struggled against the magic was now able to at least open his mouth, but no sound was able to come out.  
  
"So you wish to speak against me, Inuyasha?" Inuyasha only glared at him angrily and pointed to Kagome.  
  
"Do you want your mother to die?" The king asked in a low voice. "Do you care for this girl more than your own mother? She is the reason why the queen has been sick lately and if we don't get rid of her, my wife and yourmother will die. So take your pick Inuyasha, your mother or the girl?"  
  
Kagome dipped her head down, not wanting to see his eyes; she didn't want to see what was in them. She knew how much he loved his mother and it would be no contest to whom he would choose. Still, her heart begged secretly inside, hopelessly. And the king's question was answered as the king started to drag her out of the throne room. There was no movements and no words as she was yanked away. She didn't try to struggle anymore, her position not quite entering her consciousness. All she could feel was the throbbing burn of her cheek that beat in time to her own sinking heart.  
  
*Arrggh, this chapter has been evasive for a long time and I finally got the darn thing done. I hope its an ok chapter, things are starting to move at a quicker pace for Kagome, so you can expect more events to occur later on. I hope you guys like, I've been scratching my head over this chapter for over two weeks now and I still don't know if its good or not. Sigh, well, review and let me know.  
  
Yukari1: really? I thought that readers might think the dialogue between sess and kag was, well, unbelievable. I'm glad u thought it was good and its in character too, I'm trying not to stray too far. ^^  
  
Grasshopper-chan: thanks, I know I got the basic average girl going to the palace plot, but I'm trying to keep it unique  
  
Narani the Demoness: I'm actually really surprised how many readers like Akira. I added him for spice but I was surprised how many people thought he was a cute character. Maybe its cuz he's got similar features to sess.  
  
Orchidaceae: yup, secrets and assumptions combined can really destructive. I think I made sess go a bit too far on slapping her but heck, he's a youkai who's got way too much pride, everybody has a button and kagome pushed the right one. This is a sess/kag (as so many people seem oblivious about) so they will get together in the end...somehow.  
  
Somethingsinthislife: *blushes* wow, its hard to believe that since I pretty much cringe whenever I read my beginning chapters. *Grumbles* gotta do something about that. I can't believe how green I was when I first started writing!  
  
Chinagirl223: sorry sorry sorry! *bows in ritsu style* I keep telling myself I'm going to update a steady rate but so many things interfere!  
  
Sheol: sigh, it seems like it doesn't make a difference whether I tell the pairing or not, one out of two readers always seem to ask what the pairing is anyways even when I give it out ^^  
  
Laurelyn: thanks, I'm just happy I got this updated after...well...forever. Remind me to never move if I ever become a full fledged writer.  
  
Lady2u: true, but considering that kagome is a free spirited person, she wouldn't want to marry because the king is plotting against her, she would probably think of something to do. I tend to think of kagome as a strong person, and one who looks upon marriage as an everlasting love sort of thing.  
  
Mew_mew128: eh...uh.... I actually told all the readers in several of my chapters that this is a sess/kag so I wouldn't be leading anybody on.......  
  
The Fallen Angel of Death: lol, it would have been cute if kagome did run away and sess ran after her, but love is always complicated, and as u can see from this chapter, its going to be something pretty different. ^^  
  
Yura of the Demon Hair: yeah, I wish I could post more often too. But my schedule oftentimes get in the way. School is being a realy time consuming thing too, and I can't write if I have no inspiration, which results in really sucky chapters, which pisses of both the reader and the author. ^^  
  
mirai aria Animegirl9 Reika 


	13. Outcast

Author's Notes: eh, right...um..well, I finally updated...   
  
Decisions of Love  
  
Chapter 13: Outcast

* * *

The sun outside never seemed brighter than it was that day. A handful of wary guards and curious nobles had escorted her all the way to the red palace gates, which slowly opened to the world beyond beauty and luxury. After ceremoniously flinging her to the dirt ground of the city street, the king and court silently turned their backs, leaving her suddenly alone with the handful of guards. None of them bothered to look behind, and she gradually realized that in their eyes she was nothing but a piece of trash left out to rot. She would be erased from their memories and thoughts because of one man's faulty decision. She slapped the ground hard in fury, distracting herself with the pain in her hands from the pain in her heart. She wasn't going down like this, she was not going to be erased this easily.  
  
Suddenly she noticed the quietness of the city. She could hear the footsteps of people passing by pausing for just a few seconds to stare, then quickly scampering away at the sight of her burnt cheek, clear to the sky and for all to see. The burning had eased down to a pulsing motion of dull pain and she pulled together enough energy to stand up. The small crowd staring at her quickly dispersed at the sight of her face and the whispers began. Witch, traitor, outcast.  
  
"I'm not a witch!" She blurted out and the whispers were cut short. Eyes furtively looked at her and just as quickly turned away from her pleading eyes. A young girl crept close but was sharply pulled away by her mother. "I'm not a witch." She said in a quieter voice. Why did they keep staring? "I'm not a witch."  
  
A hard staff roughly pushed her from behind, making her stumble a step forward. Someone giggled in the crowd and few more bravely followed, making tears well up in Kagome's eyes. There was no cruelty in their laughter, nothing but oblivious compliance to an event that they were unaware of. They didn't even know why they were laughing. They simply grasped that a situation such as this required laughter and secret appreciations that it was someone else experiencing the pain and not them. And as long as it wasn't them, it was alright. The pain wasn't theirs to feel and suffer.  
  
"Start walking." A guard said with another shove of the staff. The blow was harder this time and she winced at the pain.  
  
"I know how to walk!" She said angrily and smacked the staff away. Another guard slapped her hard on the face and she tasted the metallic tang of blood in her mouth. All giggles stopped and those still boldly watching her with wide eyes held their breath.  
  
"Shut up and walk." The guard ordered and this time shoved her forward with his hand, hitting her hard enough on the back that there would be a bruise.  
  
"This is wrong! And you're all too ignorant to even notice it!" She spat out as they proceeded down the long road of watching eyes. Many of them turned away in shame but those who still watched brazenly showed their contempt at the pitiful sight before them. "Your king is-"  
  
Another hand hit her on the cheek, this time with a closed fist. But she stood her ground, her burn pulsing desperately in pain. She wisely kept her mouth shut for the rest of the walk and focused her eyes on some vague target far away, refusing to see the pity and loathing in the people's eyes. They were all so blind! They believed every word the king was feeding them and she was powerless to convince of them of the truth. And where could she go now? She had no money or food to survive on her own. Maybe that was his plan. Leave her desolate and starving till she wasted away into the nothingness that the whole kingdom wished on her. All for something she did not understand!  
  
The interminable walk finally ended at the outskirts of the city, where there were only rice fields and occasional huts strewn about. The road was devoid of any life and even the wildlife had hushed down to a cautious stillness.  
  
"By order of his royal majesty, if your face is ever seen within the boundaries of this city, you will be arrested and tortured for three days." The guard dictated and then stuck his staff into the ground, his comrades doing the same. "And now for some fun." He said as he rolled up the sleeves of his uniform.  
  
Kagome backed away from them, step by step, and then turned and ran. The quick guards caught her in an instant and had her in the ground, thrusting her face into the dirt. Hands grabbed at her clothes, violently pulling off the sash that held it all together.  
  
"Stop it! Stop it!!!!" She screamed as her arms wildly hit at the guards.  
  
"I've never been with a witch before, might be-URK!!!"  
  
The guard talking dropped to the ground, his head bent in at a sharp angle. Akira stood before them, a tower of cold fury. His normally fun loving eyes were slits of blue rage and sparks of magic were steadily streaming from his fingertips. The guards had frozen in terror and in a second Akira's gold magic surrounded them, making them disappear in the oppressive thickness, and blew away, leaving nothing behind. The dragon immediately went to Kagome's side, helping her stand up. She waved away his hands and stood by herself, her back still slightly aching from the blows earlier. He hesitantly placed his hand on the cheek that wasn't burned, her fingers trembling, but in anger or fear, she didn't know.  
  
"I should have come sooner." He said with an angry regret.  
  
She swatted his hand away, the touch of pity too much for her to handle. If she didn't pull herself together right now she would break down and cry.  
  
"It's alright, you saved me now and that's what matters." She tried to smile but her mouth refused to lift, leaving her with an awkward expression of sadness and forced happiness. "Thank you for your help."  
  
She was turning to walk down the road when Akira's hand pulled her back.  
  
"You don't have to go back home Kagome, you still have the right to stay in the dragon lands." He pleaded anxiously. "You can stay there your whole life if you want to and the dragons will stand by you."  
  
Kagome gave a small chuckle and pried her arm out of his grasp. "Don't worry Akira-kun, I'm not so weak that I can't take care of myself. And I can't have the dragons pulled into my mess. The king made me an outcast." She pointed to her cheek with a better smile. "Does it look as beautiful as it feels?"  
  
Akira concentrated on her cheek, his gold magic building near her cheek but she only felt a pleasant warmth, nothing more. He heaved a sigh and the magic disappeared.  
  
"That damn Akitaka." He growled. "How can you still act cheerful?" He took her hands into his, grasping them as if he would never let them go. He bent his face close to hers, his blue eyes pouring out his sincerity. "Is there anything I can do? Anything?"  
  
"C-could you take me home? Please? After that, I can go on alone." She asked softly with her head bowed down.  
  
He transformed in a blink and helped her on his back with his forearm. His movements were stiff and livid but he carefully shifted his weight and flung his wings out with a rigid snap.  
  
"You don't always have to be alone." He said in an subtle voice before taking off into the sky. She replied with a hug to his neck, burying her face into the softness of his skin, and tried her hardest not to let the tears out.

* * *

The picture before her was just as she remembered. The wooden gate marred with scratches from overuse, the smears of stains on the dirty white walls, and the rhythmic clucking of the chickens let loose in the yard. Akira had dropped her off and disappeared into thin air the second both her feet were on the ground. Throughout the whole ride, he had remained silent and hadn't even given a farewell. With a deep sigh, she slowly pushed the gate and stepped into cluttered building she called home. Her mother was by the door with a broom in her hand. She was leaning on it, ignoring the thinness of the dangerously worn wooden handle, and had her head tipped to the sky in deep thought. Wrinkles that Kagome had sworn weren't there before had gathered on the sides of her once beautiful mother's mouth and eyes. A minute passed with Kagome solemnly observing her mother and she decided to give a small cough. Her mother's head snapped to the source of the sound and the sound of the fallen broom made the chickens squawk in surprise.  
  
"Kagome?" Her mother said lingeringly with a peculiar wonder and Kagome moved forward to fling herself into her mother's arms. But strangely, her mother took a step back and turned around, going back into the house. "Come inside."  
  
Could it be? Did her family already find out about it? But they were blood! They would accept her no matter the consequences! They had to...right?  
  
Her mother led her to the kitchen where the preparations of a meager dinner was undergoing. Her mother had her back to her, hunched over from years of working in the fields.  
  
"Mama?" Kagome said hesitantly. "I'm home." She said with false happiness in her voice.  
  
"I know." She said, her voice coming out harsh. "I know." She said a little more gently.  
  
"D-did you find out it?" Kagome asked with tears in her eyes. One escaped and slid down her burnt cheek, making the open wound tingle. Her mother was treating her like...like she didn't belong at home. How could everybody turn against her so quickly?  
  
"Kagome, do you love your family?" Her mother turned around and asked.  
  
"Of course!" Kagome sobbed out, the tears coming faster. She wiped them away with the sleeves of her yukata. "I wouldn't have come back if I didn't."  
  
"Then...then you'll understand why I ask you to leave."  
  
"What are you saying?!!!" Kagome choked out. "I'm your daughter!! You can't throw me out!"  
  
"And I can't risk the lives of my husband, my father, and my son!!" Her mother blurted out with tears in her own eyes. "This is out of my hands Kagome! I'm not willing to lose my entire family!!!"  
  
"So you'll condemn your daughter?!! I didn't do anything to deserve this! You have to believe me!!! I didn't do anything!!!" She cried out.  
  
"Just leave, before Souta sees you." Her mother begged, getting down on her knees. She grabbed the ends of Kagome's yukata, bending her head low to the ground. Kagome recoiled in disgust at the sight of her mother on the ground like a beggar. "Please, just leave before they find out you were here!"  
  
Kagome's choked sobbing had quieted and stopped. She didn't need to know who 'they' were. She blankly stared up at the dark ceiling above, the rafters full of thick cobwebs. The room was filled with the sobbing of her mother, who was still prostrated at the ground with Kagome's yukata in her hands. This wasn't happening. She had held on to the hope that at least her family would accept her. That they would welcome her with open arms and believe that she had done absolutely nothing to deserve the hatred of so many people. And she had been proven wrong in the worst way possible. It was her family's survival that triumphed over the bond of blood and love. She knew she should take into consideration the position that had been place on her family, but she didn't want to.  
  
She whirled around, making her mother release her hold on her clothes, and she ran out of the kitchen, out of the house, and out of the gates that she had just treasured a moment ago. Akira was waiting outside, his eyes on her the second she stepped through the gate. She threw herself into his arms and the rest of her tears poured out, one after another in an endless rain of sorrow and agony. She cried till she felt like her heart would split in half, and maybe... maybe it had.

* * *

She had cried herself to sleep and when she woke up night had already fallen. A rippling fire was flickering away and she sat up to see Akira sitting across from her. A soft blanket had been placed over her and she absentmindedly rubbed the fabric between her fingers while blinking the weariness out of her sore eyes.  
  
"Why are you helping me?" She finally asked, her voice coming out firm. The message in her question was clear, why was he helping her when nobody else would?  
  
He turned away and looked into the fire, the brightness of the flames creating strange glints in his eyes. He had carefully shielded his face from her so she could not read what was inside.  
  
"Dragons can sometimes see glimpses of the future but it very rare that we do. Most of the time we can just feel that something is going to happen. Those of the royal bloodline are the only ones who are given snatches of what is to come."  
  
He gave a pause, as if unsure of whether or not he should tell her. But he went on.  
  
"For me....I saw my future with you."

* * *

Author's notes: Well, it's not quite as long as I wanted it to be, but better to have something than nothing, right? And I know there's no sesshie in this chappie, but his part will come up later on in the story (he's got a big part, so don't worry). And this is a SESS/KAG, not an AKIRA/KAG. I hope you guys liked the chapter and don't forget to review!!!  
  
Aryante Silimarusse: eh, I forget whether I sent an email saying yes or not, but sure, u can put the story on ur site  
  
Orchidaceae: no worries! Kagome will not always have bad things happening to her, though there's more bad stuff coming up  
  
Amy: lol, I'm not abandoning this story, no way! I got plans for this story, I just gotta move my lazy butt and make it happen  
  
Chinagirl223: yup, kagome was branded. Poor girl, and on her pretty face too! I hope u can forgive me for the really late update this time!  
  
Animeprincezz: wow, u'll really understand if I don't update right away? Wow, that's really a first!  
  
Katherine: (blush) wow, thank you so much!  
  
Lirael1: yay! Thank you!! And no, this won't be an inu/kag. I'm a sess/kag fan  
  
CrystalBlueSeraph: lol, yup, I'm a sess/kag fan too! I guess u can say this is a turning point in the story. I'm trying to get the plot moving now after too many chapters of nothingness.  
  
Kohana: wow, so many people are complaining about the branding. I admit it is harsh, but it's not a huge brand that takes up half her face and it won't detract from her appearance, well, at least not that much  
  
Kawaii KiWi-Chan: wow, really? I thought the first five or so chapters were crap because I wrote them so long ago.  
  
Demonchild93: I know! Sess and kag are so meant for each other. I like to think that they are soulmates because they equal each other out. I got the cold heartless immortal with the emotional and kind kagome 


	14. Impending Fate Part 1

Decisions of Love  
Chapter 14: Impending Fate

* * *

If everything Akira had ever hoped for went into that one moment, all the strength Kagome ever had went into uttering a single word.

"No."

His eyes were a furious blue and it took a swipe at her already decimated heart when she saw the helpless anger in them. She wanted to tell him that everything was alright and that there would be better days after today, yet, it was hard enough just thinking of the words. If it had been someone else in her position, she would say that what she was doing was selfish. But this was the only way she could prevent another heartbreak before it had the possibility of happening. If she couldn't protect herself, she would do the next best thing, protect the others around her. In essence, this was the last thing her mother would ever teach her.

"You have no future with me. And you won't have one if you stay." She said firmly as she huddled in her blanket. Unwanted reality was beginning to surface as she realized how alone she would be after Akira would leave. She had heard of loneliness being harsh and dark, but nobody had ever survived enough to call it cold. The emotion was already starting to seep inside and she didn't dare to think of how it would be when she was finally and truly alone, just as the king had declared her. Yet, it would have to be like this for what appeared to be the rest of her life.

"It's my future to have or to lose." Akira said heatedly, seeing the defeat in her eyes. In all the time he had spent in her company, he had not once felt the weakness that so many men were foolhardily convinced women had. It was unreal- finding a woman who could put off an air of courage and pride, yet still have a gentle aura around her that made others in her presence unknowingly relax. He wasn't about to have that broken over something as trivial as her selfish desire to save others. She wasn't doing this for the sake of protecting her friends but to spare herself the pain of seeing others suffer. It was stupid, self sacrificing, and he hated it. "You can't decide to save me, Kagome, I already chose to stay with you long before we ever met."

"And you can't base your future on a prophecy!" Kagome said with all the fury that had been building throughout the day. She saw a strange glimmer of cold anger in his gaze but she continued. "Do you know why I was branded? Why I'm now an outcast? Because someone decided to base their decisions on a prophecy! You have a lot of nerve to tell me that you're choosing your own future when you're only following predictions that have no sure chance of occurring!" The tears began to leak out before she could stop them. "If all you ever listen to is prophecies and assumptions, then your life will only become what you expected it to be." She dug her palms into her eyes and sat back down, completely drained of all rage and sorrow. She had promised herself no more tears and she had been sure that she didn't have another drop left to spare, but her body held secret reserves and she dug her palms in deeper to stop the floodgates from breaking. She was better than this, she knew it. She had never been a crybaby, even through the torrent of regret from her father for being a girl. A tall shadow covered her feet and knelt before her. Akira's hands came into view to completely envelope hers and placed her hands back onto her lap. The strange glimmer was gone and replaced with blazing conviction that made his eyes appear almost gold.

"What if prophecies foretell happiness? Then, wouldn't we expect happiness and find it?" He asked her softly.

"It's not the same thing." She mumbled. She could tell she was losing the argument, fast. And so could Akira because he squeezed her hands once for encouragement and went back to his seat.

Foretelling, second sight, predictions, prophecies- was this what every outcome was based on? Was life propelled on paths with forks reading destiny and fate? Akira was "foretold" that his future was with her. The king had a prediction of twins and magic. She didn't want to believe in it, believe in destiny or fate. She didn't want to acknowledge that she was supposed to feel miserable, that her family had foresworn her, that the burning on her left cheek would never die down.

* * *

She woke up to a dewy morning with the uneasy feeling of someone watching her. She looked around to see Akira alert and facing a dark shadow that was oozing from a cluster of tree branches. It slid to the ground and Akira was in front of Kagome, faster than her eyes were able to follow. She could feel the dragon's magic rising against the shadow and not to her surprise the shadow stopped, now a black puddle before them. She wanted to ask what it was but the tension was so high that she felt a single word could probably float on it.

"Show yourself." Akira growled.

The black puddle rose to the height of a man and then fell away into the ground, revealing a baboon skin cloaked person. The person within chuckled.

"Just testing the waters," he said. "I thought you would be weaker without your- other half."

Why Akira's human form and dragon form would differ in strength baffled Kagome but the thought was replaced by a touch of fear. Something in the baboon man's aura twisted her chest, creating an uncomfortable feeling of someone grasping her heart in the palm of their hand. His very voice made cold shivers dance up her arms. She was grateful for the steady warmth coming from Akira's back but it did not ease the unsettling feelings at all.

"Let's move on to the main matter, shall we? Higurashi-kun-"

"Don't." She broke in, proud of her bravery despite the wilting feeling in her stomach.

"Don't what?" He asked slyly.

"Don't address me so casually." She said with a huff. She hoped she was appearing nonchalant. She could have sworn that the baboon mask's mouth tilted at the corners in an unnerving smile.

"Higurashi-sama, having heard of your plight, I would like to express my deepest regrets and understanding as a person who has also been wrongfully punished by the king." He said as easily as if they were old friends. She didn't like this at all and he must have sensed her discomfort because he gave a regal bow and took a step away from them.

"If you should require any assistance, summon my name to the wind and I will be at your side." He disappeared into the black puddle at his feet, which followed him as well so that there was no trace of his appearance. Akira remained where he stood, his back rigid. She looked up at him to see his face in deep, troubled thought. His eyebrows were furrowed and his magic jumped around his fingertips, as if he was expecting the mysterious man to suddenly come out and attack them. She placed a hand on his arm and he looked down at her, his face wiped of everything before. She didn't need to ask his thoughts on the man, he was as apprehensive as she was. He gave a warm smile, as if to say that the meeting hadn't gone too bad. She had to give a smile in return for his effort and Akira's own grew wider to see the old expression back on her face. His hand daringly grasped hers and no words of complaint left her mouth. He was her fire to huddle around now; she needed him more than she could ever comprehend.

Akira couldn't risk the two of them being seen if he changed to his dragon form and flew, so walking it was. If she was lucky, she could start a new life in a place far from the king's reach. The brand still posed a problem to her identity but it was nothing a bit of cloth couldn't cover up. She had been a crying wreck yesterday, but today, today she had to recover what was left of herself and try to live. She had to let go of the past and the people in it. An image of Sesshoumaru's haughty smile grasped her heart harder than she thought it would. Yes, she would have to forget all of it. She had to forget _him_.

* * *

She was safe, and that was all he needed to sustain himself, at least for now. It had hurt him more than he thought it would to see her flung before the court like a piece of worthless trash and it took all of his strength not to growl with barely contained anger. But he had to watch himself carefully, especially with father's guards breathing down his neck for any signs of rebellion. Exactly what had led his father to distrust even his own son didn't disturb him as much as the fact that his keen senses had detected faint coils of jyaki around his father's form. His speculations were becoming more and more real as he noticed other nobles of the court with odd glints in their eyes. But he was the only suspecting person.

He impatiently burned another pile of useless information and swept the ashes onto the floor, leaving Jaken to clean it up later. The spacious room was beginning to absorb the smoke that was released everyday and it was only his annoyance in being caught that ordered him to place fresh flowers every day in his room. Without fail, the maids would leave additional sprigs of jasmine in the corners, allowing the scent to work up to his nose and summon an image of her grinning face. It irked him to no end whenever these frequent occurrences happened. He already had his thoughts full on the royal court's behavior and adding her in made unwanted worry tighten his stomach. She was safe, he had to tell himself repeatedly. She wouldn't come to harm as long as she stayed with her companion and that would be the end of that. His fixation on the girl had to stop. Yet, it angered him even more that it was his duty to sit and look through the paperwork, rather than being outside, doing the real investigating. He was becoming unconditionally restless. If he sniffed out one more spy creeping near his quarters, he would slaughter the impertinent mortal and risk being at the receiving end of his father's uncontrollable rage.

"Jaken." He said quietly. His zealous servant appeared before him in a hurry, clumsily dropping the two headed staff and picking it up again. The green youkai bowed with his forehead pressed against the floor so hard that Sesshoumaru's sharp ears heard the tatami mat creaking in protest.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, they have made contact with Naraku." Said his muffled voice. "He offered them what we expected and they are now heading east."

Sesshoumaru gave a snort that was barely detectable by human ears and Jaken quickly left, as commanded.

So that pathetic hanyou had begun making his first move. Sesshoumaru's eyes bled to a startling crimson. Now it was his turn to make the second, just as he had planned…

* * *

The goblin's pieces of flesh rained down from the sky and Akira shielded them both with a whispered word of magic. Kagome wrinkled her nose in disgust and held the sleeves of her cloak up to cover her mouth. She moved away from Akira's shield to inspect the umpteenth youkai that had attacked them so far during their journey. The rate that the monsters attacked was steadily becoming ridiculous. It was believable enough that they attacked travelers on the road, but she was beginning to think that they were searching her out and attacking her on purpose. Every one of them had died in Akira's hands, a look of frighteningly concentrated intent in their glinting eyes. She kicked a clump of the goblin's arm into the bushes.

"Do you think that, well, that _he_ might have sent them?" She asked her companion. The dragon shook his head and she frowned. It seemed unlikely that the baboon skinned man would have sent the youkai, she didn't know him, as well as his name. What would complete strangers have to gain with her death?

"I'm positive."

"How do you know?" She ask curiously as they started to walk down the beaten path once more. She doubled her speed to catch up to his long legs. He flashed a smile and tweaked her nose, making her smirk and slap his hand away.

"I just do."

She grew somber at his words. "I think there's someone trying to kill me. And _don't_ say it's just a fluke because what are the odds that I get attacked at least three times every day! The youkai are getting stronger and what if-"

"You don't trust your humble servant's ability to protect you?" He said with a flourishing bow.

She shook her head and retreated into her thoughts. He was doing his best to cheer her up and reassure her, and though she appreciated his well meant actions, coddling her like a child was something she did not need. She couldn't tell if he was taking her seriously or not whenever he tried to explain it away, but she knew there was a definite problem occurring. There was no coincidence in the youkai attacks, especially when they all aimed for her. Akira had joked yesterday when a flying youkai tried to grab her that they were just preying on the smaller, weaker person but she could have sworn that she heard the flying youkai hiss her name before Akira sliced it's head off. The attacks were increasing every day and Kagome couldn't miss the slight press of exhaustion on Akira's shoulders. She bit her lip and kept quiet but worried through each battle as she helplessly stood off to the side. He couldn't keep using so much magic every single day. Not only did he ward off the youkai, but he lit their campfires and created circles of protection at night that protected and emanated a steady warmth for those inside the circle. It was taxing his reserves and she could only do her best to do... nothing.

She kicked a small rock in irritation and gave a sigh, not a scream, when she felt the overbearing jyaki of another youkai. She could feel them so clearly now, their presence making her heart twist in fear. This time it was a wizened hag with skull topped cane that shot a bolt of white thunder from its open mouth. She dutifully dodged the oncoming attack and ran off to hide behind a tree while Akira dealt with the youkai. He favored the katana at his side and pulled it out to reveal a thin, well-polished blade that was as deadly as it was slender. He sliced at the hag but she swiftly blocked it with her cane in a movement that belied her gnarled appearance. She licked her lips in excitement and grinned straight at Kagome, revealing blood stained teeth. Akira was a blur, cutting at the hag from all directions but the youkai managed to block them all with an ease that filled Kagome with dread. Akira tried a magic approach and summoned swirling balls of energy around his clawed hands.

"Your blood smells tasty, almost better than that treat you got inside you." The hag said to Kagome as she dodged a deadly swipe from Akira's claw.

"A treat that'll be mine real soon!" The hag cackled.

She threw the cane into the sky, screeching out a string of words that made the air grow heavy. The hairs on Kagome's arm stood on end and she could feel a massive amount of energy gathering in the sky to create dark menacing clouds. It was enough to make her stomach churn in nausea. This hag youkai had too much power, too much jyaki, to be one of the normal youkai that had pursued her. Someone was behind all her attacks and she had the horrible feeling that this was their last attempt in trying to kill her. Akira dove towards her in time to put up a shield against the massive thunder bolt that shot down from the sky. Somehow, in the background, Kagome could hear the hag continue her wild chanting and the immense thunderbolt hit Akira's shield again. She looked up to see the strain in the dragon's face and the shield around them began to flicker. There was so much bright light from the thunder that her eyes started to see strange shapes. A spasm shook her as she saw an image of Akira's torn body in a room splattered with his crimson liquid. The vision moved to include her in the picture, showing her huddled in the corner with tears flowing faster than the blood that streamed out of the mauled body's open wounds. She felt rather than heard herself scream when she noticed that he had one sapphire blue eye, a color identical to her own, and one gold eye, reminiscent to the sun.

"No!" Kagome cried out before the thunder consumed her entire world.

* * *

I had the original intention of putting up a long chapter for you guys but the ending of the chapter has been thwarting me so I split the chapter in half, the first part being this chapter. I will have the second part out 5 days after I've posted this one so keep a look out for that second part because that will be the one time that I'll actually be on time with a chapter. Anyways, things will be moving rather quickly from here, I have absolutely no clue why I took so much unnecessary time in the beginning and I wish I hadn't but oh well! Leave a beautifully long, substantial review for me to savor. I'm pretty happy with this story, no major flames yet! Yes, I have a few grammer and spelling mistakes in all my chapters and probably have some in this one. What can I say, I get so excited that a chapter is done that I skim through it and then just post it. one last thing, do u guys really cry in my story? For some reason I find it hard to believe that my story can reduce someone to tears

churryanimefreak: lol, yes, well, there's a real plot twist concerning sesshoumaru's fascination with kagome, it will make a few things make a lot more sense and the plot a bit thicker at the same time.

mksanime: yeah, I've been getting a lot of favor for an akira/kag, but I'm a sess/kag fan, and why I'm making it appear an akira/kag will come up later, I did the pairing intentionally.

Tink: aw, thanks! it makes me feel happy when people enjoy my story, I'm glad those hours spent reading this story were well spent, it's what i write for!

Koyuki-chan: I love stories placed in the past, I really do wish I had spent more time making kagome's world more detailed, as it is, it is extremely flawed in accuracy-ouch

Flying jade: heehee, shippou's role comes a bit later and kouga will not be a major character in this story, his appearance in the beginnings will probably be the only ones he'll have

Arizonagoddess89: hahaha, I think it's funny how much people love akira. I think they like him because he's like the better half of sesshoumaru. And yup, it is ironic that kagome ends up being an outcast when she only come for honor, I was tempted to call the chapter when she gets branded "irony" but decided against it. Thanks for reviewing every chapter and telling me what u think of it!

Cymarel: yeah, ouch, a lot of people hate me right now for all the angst, but I bet it doubled after the ending of this chapter. I love adding cliffies. I hope readers will be alright for the five days they have to wait for the second part. Yes! I love it when people say my plot is original. The whole kagome going to the palace plot is pretty normal but I plan on adding a lot of different things that will make it stand out. If there's one thing I love, it's a different plot, which is what I really aim for in stories. It gets really dull when ur reading the same story over and over

Darkchaoswolf: lol, who is the older one will be revealed later on. And I'm glad people think akira is a sweety, it's what I was going for.

Kjinuyasha: wahh, thanks for the long review and the story suggestions. Ya know, I hope most people are joking when they tell me they cried in my story, is it really so sad that it brings tears to the eyes? Surprises me. P.s. thanks for not complaining about the super duper late update

Melanie-chan: I hope sesshoumaru's viewpoint in the chapter answered ur question. all others questions will hopefully be answered in future chapters to come.

Kohmaru: oo, shoot, I totally forgot about rating. Thanks for reminding me! I didn't mean to leave it at G

Moonstar861: wow, I'm ur first fanfic? Wow, it makes me feel…happy. Hahaha, check out my favorites list for authors and stories for some really good inuyasha stories.

Amin vanima mellonea: ah, I hope u didn't cry too much in this chapter. I hope u enjoy my other stories as much as u enjoyed this one

Moonsmurf: wow, joining the forces? I hope ur alright, though, if ur reading this, then that means ur alright. Right, ok, rambling now…

Shinigami clara: yes, I'm evil, as I've been told many times. And akira's time in the spotlight is almost up, and then this story will resume to being a normal good ol' sess/kag.

Kawaiipie007: ooo yeah, I didn't realize it had been over a year since I last updated, ouch double ouch.

Yuki tsukiyo: yay! I'm glad I turned u towards sess/kag pairings! And ur right, there's not much about inuyasha and kikyo, I spent too much time concentrating on kagome's plight, add that to my list of woes concerning this story. Darn.


	15. Impending Fate Part 2

Decisions of Love

Chapter 14: Impending Fate Part 2

* * *

It was the sickening scent of herbs that woke her from her nightmares- a corrosive mix of dull herbs that seem to sap her strength and spiteful magic that leaked into her skin. Kagome opened her eyes, half expecting to see the white thunder that had shook her world. Instead, her eyes met a dusk sky with crimson streaks bleeding from the dying sun. The vision she had of Akira's death returned, as fresh as the blood she had seen. It was merely a vision but what had shook her the most was that despite the tears streaming from her eyes there was a smile on her face. It had been a soft, knowing smile. A bird's farewell to the sun slipped her back into reality. Now wasn't the time to dwell on what could merely be a hallucination brought on by her own fears.

She had been placed in some sort of long stone container filled with warm liquid; the mixture that had woken her up. The container sloped where her back met it, which lifted her head from the mixture so that she wouldn't drown. She counted herself lucky that she hadn't been killed on the spot, but the fact that she was also still alive meant the hag had plans for her.

Kagome struggled to get up but immediately, invisible binds pulled her back down from the scant inches she had lifted herself. Her mouth felt slow, like the muscles in her jaw had given out and it took her several tries before she could utter a word.

"Akira?" She said hoarsely, wondering if the dragon could hear her. It struck her that Akira might not have survived, but she quickly squashed the thought down. If she had survived then he had to have survived as well. Unless he was foolish enough to risk his life for hers, which he was. The vision flashed back to her, this time leaving a physical impression that made her spasm against the binds. Why was the vision affecting her so much?

The possibility that Akira might be dead drove her to put what little strength she had into trying to break through the invisible binds. She managed to almost sit up straight until the binds reacted stronger than before and nearly shoved her back down. It made her angry and she focused all of her will into moving her body, hoping to loosen the binds. Bit by bit, she felt the binds retreating from her determined efforts and was lifting her hands when a familiar crackle pierced the air. That one sound made the binds more aggressive than before and they slammed Kagome back to her immobile position. The hag's face bent over her, a smile gathering the wrinkles around her mouth into a crumpled mass.

"Too late dearie, I've already finished the spell and now all that's left is for you to give it up." The hag said cheerfully as she dipped a finger into the liquid and tasted it. She smacked her lips and nodded her head. "You're almost there."

"Give up what? My soul?" She asked with dread. The hag's contact with the mixture had made it sap her strength faster. The horrible stench of herbs had doubled in its potency and her throat ached to cough it all out. It was as if the scent was purposely working its way down into her throat.

"Even tastier."

Kagome felt a strange sensation stirring in her center, like something was trying to pull itself away. Was it her soul?

"The Shikon." The hag said with relish.

A bright flare of light filled the air and the hag shrieked, covering her eyes. To Kagome, the light was like the breaking rays of day and she felt the binds disappear altogether. Not wasting time, she clenched onto the container's sides and dragged her body over, her arm muscles screaming in protest. She fell to the ground, earth clinging to her clothes and skin. Just being out of the liquid made her feel ten times better but her strength was still depleted. Someone knelt before her and she looked up with relief to see Akira, only to furrow her eyebrows in worry. He looked beyond exhausted and blood trickled down from his mauled wrists. Her own fatigue forgotten, she pulled herself up to brush her fingers against his hands. There was no smile for her gesture, he roughly grabbed her hands and they were soon in a run that made the forest a blur to her eyes.

"You can't run from me!" The hag shrieked, making the air fill with the sound of her furious voice. "The Shikon is MINE!"

It was nearly pitch black now and Kagome could feel Akira's desperation as he tried to run faster. Her mortal legs couldn't keep up and she was stumbling to keep up to the dragon's frenzied pace. The world around them had disappeared to the darkness and she could feel the familiar build up of power in the sky. She tugged her hand out of Akira's just as a brilliant white streak of pure power split the ground before them. The sheer physical and magical force of the thunder bolt knocked them off their feet. Kagome felt herself briefly fly for a few seconds then Akira yanked her into his arms so that he could take the blunt of the fall. He tightened his hold around her so hard that it was difficult to breathe, his mouth pressed hard by her ear.

"This isn't the end!" He yelled into her ear, trying to make his voice carry above the boom of thunder. The hag youkai was floating above them with her own magic, her arms spread like she was offering herself to the ominous sky. "This is not your end!"

"This will be your end!" The hag cried out as she pointed at them. The pressure of corrupt magic was beginning to suffocate her and she closed her eyes to block out the triumph in the youkai's face.

Kagome felt the faint flickering of Akira's protective shield against the hag's thunder, but knew in her heart that it was not enough. It was not enough to shield them both from the hag's greed. The thunder pounded against the shield, again and again, filling the air, her ears, her heart. To come so far only to be put out of her misery by an insatiable youkai, Kagome felt fury tightening her chest. She had been beaten, branded, publicly humiliated, nearly raped, and thrown out as an outcast; all resulting in what would surely be a bleak future ahead of her. Yet, still, there was a future, however sorrowful and alone it would be.

Vaguely, she felt something break within her as the fury intensified. Power began to arise in her, so much that she thought her tiny body would burst. It burnt her insides like harsh fire, creating an inferno that consumed everything it could. Suddenly, Akira grabbed her arms, extending claws from his nails that bit deep into her skin to jerk her from her state.

"No! Don't let it out!" He shouted.

It was too late. She gave a scream and the power that was growing lashed out to the source of the burning thunder. Purple fire stretched forth from her hands to envelope the hag's body, eliciting shriek after shriek from the youkai. She blacked out once more, but this time no visions marked the ending of her consciousness.

* * *

She awoke to darkness, and briefly, she wondered if she was still dreaming. But the throbbing in her bones and the weariness in her muscles indicated that she was awake and very much alive to feel so many aches. Then she heard Akira talking urgently to someone. She tilted her head to see Akira leaning towards the small pond they were near. Was he talking to the water? A memory of the king's secret room came upon her, one of her leaning over what appeared to be a small pond that had shown something that was not possible. She was about to sit up and ask when Akira uttered Sesshoumaru's name. She froze and allowed surprise to let her eavesdrop.

"-don't have much time left. I can feel the moment pressing closer. Frankly, I don't have enough power right now to kill even one of his guards. He planned all of this, Sessoumaru. We underestimated him." Akira said wearily. Kagome was troubled to hear a touch of defeat in his voice. Was the man they were talking about perhaps the same person who had set the hag against her?

"Will you have enough energy to merge when the moment comes?" Sesshoumaru's calm voice almost brought a sigh to her lips but she held it back in the nick of time. She didn't want to miss hearing that voice. She had determinedly cut Taiyoukai Sesshoumaru out of her life, or so she thought. Why was the mere sound of his voice making her eyes water in unnecessary tears and her stomach twist into knots?

"The moment has been foreseen and we will merge," Akira said with assurance. "But, Sesshoumaru, will you promise me one thing when the merge takes place?"

"If it's within my powers."

"Take care of Kagome, please. And- and don't tell her where I've gone." Akira asked softly, regret etched in his words.

A long pause followed, so long that Kagome thought that Sesshoumaru had left.

"You want to be a separate entity so she can remember you, " Sesshoumaru said in an odd tone. "She deserves the truth."

"Call it a selfish request." Akira replied with a touch of laughter in his voice. "My last wish."

"I'll be seeing you soon." Akira said before Sesshoumaru had the chance to talk. The conversation must have ended because Akira placed a hand on the water and made a movement similar to wiping something away.

Kagome sat up, a hundred questions running through her mind from what she had just heard. A merge of what? Why was Akira on such familiar terms with Sesshoumaru? Who was the man they had underestimated? Why would Sesshoumaru care for someone he disliked? Akira turned around to meet her with tired and sad eyes. He had known that she was listening the entire time. He patted the ground beside him and she crawled over to where he was to sit next to him. She couldn't think of what to say and she knew Akira was waiting for her to speak first.

"When-" She croaked. She swallowed to ease her dry throat. "When will you leave me?"

Akira affectionately ruffled her hair and looked down at her with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. It drew tears to her own sapphire eyes and they fell before she could stop them. Things had to be really hopeless if even the ever-cheerful Akira couldn't smirk and joke it all away. She quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand, ashamed that she was weeping like a baby, but more followed. She had told herself that there would be no more tears. After experiencing the worst misery she thought any human being could ever feel, she thought there could be nothing else in the world that would bring her such anguish again. She was wrong.

"Why did you follow me to your death!" She wailed at him, hitting him weakly with her fists. "Why didn't you stay home and live! Is your life worth so little that you have to throw it away!"

He grabbed her hands to stop her blows.

"Maybe your life is worth so much that I'm willing to give mine." He gently squeezed her hands. "Besides, I'm not really dying, you just won't be able to see me anymore- in a sense"

"Isn't that what death is?" She snapped angrily at him. "When you can't see someone no matter what you do or where you go. When you can't talk to them or tell jokes or shares memories… why are you so stupid! Prophecies mean nothing! They happen because people believe in them and they set themselves up for it! If you had just stayed home and let me go on by myself-"

"In the end, we are destined to walk the destiny that was laid out before us." Akira interrupted her. "Many people ask, is it possible to deny the very thing that creates each act and thought in our lives? Can a human being defy their own fate, or is it that every way they try to escape still takes them closer to their destiny? Mortals," He chuckled. "Are always under the impression that destiny is what will happen, rather than the direction a path will go."

He leaned towards her and placed a delicate kiss on her forehead, then stood up, pulling Kagome up with him. He pointed past the pond and Kagome noticed a castle nestled on a rocky hill. Sinister fog hovered around it and she had a feeling the man responsible for everything was there. A nasty aura permeated the dark castle, an aura she could feel from where she stood. It made cold shivers dance all over her skin.

"Is your- our destiny in there?" She asked him.

He gave a shrug and strode towards the direction of the castle. She gave one last glance at the castle before slipping into the forest with Akira. She could only follow him, no more… no less.

* * *

It was either the two of them were more tired than they thought they were, or the castle was playing tricks on their minds. Every time Kagome thought she couldn't take another step, the castle would seem another hundred steps further away. She looked at Akira from time to time to see if he could make anything of it, but he had a determined look on his face. She had trust him this far, and for the moment, she was too tired to have another argument on fate, destiny, everything.

She was in mid step when she felt her foot pass through a tangible, but invisible wall. For a second, her foot stopped upon meeting an almost springy surface and then broke through to touch the ground. She halted in her steps and curiously reached her hands out, feeling the yielding wall in front of her. Hesitantly, she pushed through and stepped into a world of suffocating air. She almost doubled over from all the sensations that attacked her. There was so much hopelessness and wrath shifting around that Kagome was having a difficult time concentrating on just getting into the castle. Akira took her hand and she felt her head clear a little, just enough to remind her why they were here.

The feeling was lost when they slid open the door to the main building. Footsteps that should have been quiet muffles echoed loud and clear, the hallway throwing the sounds into their faces. She didn't realize that her breaths were coming out in rapid bursts until her heartbeats pounded loud inside her head. They walked a dozen meters, a hundred- they walked and walked but the hallway never changed. It was the same dank walls closing in on them, the same discolored floor swallowing their footsteps and spitting them back out, the same hallway over and over again.

She wanted to say something, anything to fill up the heavy silence. Another second of this madness would render her screaming. Suddenly, the wall to her right pulsed and a pair of bright, new shoji doors pushed through. This was it, the door that would lead them to the man. She slowly opened the door, whether to buy a handful of seconds or to prevent the possibility of seeing too much in the room. But it did not save her from witnessing what had to be the origin of all nightmares.

The pure darkness engulfed her in its nothingness, leaving no room for fear and surprise. Even the darkness of night had the stars' flickers to ease total blindness. But here, in this room, her eyes experienced the dark's pure form for the first time and it blanked out her mind. No thoughts entered her mind, all she could think of was the dark and she felt that if she took a breath, the dark would fill her body as well.

Unknowingly, she took a step into the darkness, as if her body strove to go deeper, to take a taste of the other side of yang. It was when she took a step into the darkness that she began to see again. Kagome briefly wondered how she could see in pure darkness but her mind couldn't catch onto the thought long enough to digest it. All she could see was the taint. Everything inside the never ending room was tainted. Layers of blood, old and new, were splashed onto the wall; the strange shadows leaping around made the color appear dull and unreal.

She took another step and began to see the outlines of large bulky mounds. She thought they were just piles of trash until she noticed horns and claws thrusting out. There were literally thousands of dead youkai all around her, each torn apart or mangled in such a way that there was no possibility of being able to tell what they looked like in life. They had been carelessly thrown around until the body parts accumulated into tall mountains.

She should have stopped right there, after seeing so many dead bodies. She should have turned around and gone back to light and life. But her legs moved without her and she took another step into the darkness, wondering what her eyes would show her next. The prince of darkness sat before her on a decaying throne, perfectly comfortable and a look of content in his glowing red eyes. She had expected some evil demonic sorcerer with blood dried on his hands but instead, it was a noble faced courtier with longer locks of black hair than her own. She whirled around to look for Akira but she could no longer see the entrance of the room, or anything else, for that matter.

"Do you know that when you step into darkness, you do not believe that you have lost light but have found dark instead?" The man's soothing voice seemed to lull her into a strange calm but she shook herself to keep his voice away. "Do you know that people cannot look into the sun? It blinds them, it takes their sight away and replaces it with pain. Mortals are not given the privilege of looking into light. But the dark, ah the dark. It caresses you. It soothes your eyes, making you hunger for the relief."

"Why are you trying to kill me?" Kagome asked, making her voice loud and clear, compared to the soft, embracing tones of the man. He laughed at her, gentle laughs that warmed her heart. What was he doing to her?

"My dear girl, I would never try to kill you. One of my servants was merely retrieving a certain artifact from you. She was a bit overzealous, wasn't she? But she will be properly punished for that."

She heard something dragging on the floor and the hag appeared, almost crawling from behind a pile of dead youkai. She was burnt all over, her entire body was one raw open wound. Kagome shuddered at the sight. How could she, a once magic-less girl, do something as terrible as that? The hag crawled all the way to the throne, throwing herself at her master's feet.

"Please, master, heal me, and I'll take the Shikon from her body, I'll rip it out with my own hands!" She begged, she pleaded.

The man stroked her head, extracting cries of pain from her. In a quick movement, he dug his fingers into the top of her head and tore her head off. Blood sprayed all over his face and his clothes but he made no notice of it. The hag dropped dead at his feet, the blood creating a small glistening pool. Kagome was frozen, unable to believe the heartless killing she had just seen. The man looked at her, a knowing smile on his face. Stark fear pressed needles into her skin, and for the first time, she truly feared for her life.

"Kagome-chan, I was _so _disappointed when you didn't call me. I thought that the clever little _dragon _would tell you who I am, but I thought wrong." The man gave an elegant shrug. "I guess we will just have to do this the hard way."

"Y-you!" She cried out in horror. "The baboon skinned man!"

"I prefer Naraku-kun, if you don't mind."

She hadn't seen him move. One second he was sitting there, talking casually to her with blood all over him. The next second he was standing right in front of her, cupping her face with his too warm hands. She tried to pull away from his grasp but his grip was iron tight. She felt something inside her pulling itself away, faster than when the hag had tried with the stone container. She doubled her efforts, tripled it, but he gripped his fingers tighter. She tried to remember her fury, she tried to summon that purple fire again but every time it stirred, it quickly died away. Kagome could feel it clearly now, something in her stomach was moving up to the surface. Panic arose in her and she dug her fingernails into the man's eyes. He cried out in pain and dropped her.

Something smashed into Naraku and Kagome looked on to see an enraged Akira straddling the man. Akira placed both of his hands on Naraku's chest and cried out a long chain of archaic words. Light brighter than the sun filled the room, throwing everything into clear focus. Kagome's eyes couldn't take the brightness and she closed her eyes tight, bright spots dancing in her head. She could hear Akira's chant growing faster and faster. She couldn't take it anymore and opened her eyes to see what was happening. All the light in the room was sucked into a vortex that was surrounding Akira. It was a spinning ball of light, and Naraku was covering his eyes with his hands, unable to take the brightness.

After a few moments to adjust, she was able to see what was happening within the light vortex. Her heart stopped beating, she knew that this was the moment Akira had been talking about. The hypocrite who had told her to not be self-sacrificing was chanting a spell that would take both him and Naraku away. She ran to him, but it felt like it was all slow motion. The vortex was spinning impossibly fast now and her legs were hopelessly slow. She screamed at him, calling him every insulting name she could think of. She reached a hand out just as the vortex disappeared and collapsed on her knees in relief when she saw her silver haired friend, still straddling the man.

She turned Akira around to see if he was alright and stumbled back when sun gold eyes met her gaze.

Naraku began to laugh.

* * *

Author's Notes: I think I'm officially on the deathlist of every Akira lover….. uh, leave a long review please?

Ookami K.: I bet there are a lot of people confused right now, but there will be explanations in later chapters, which will create a lot of Ooh's and Aah's. And sess/kag will go a bit slow, but what can u expect with sess?

Moosegirl13: I hope it was long enough

Inukaru: blushes aw, you don't mean it. There are so many better writers than me. I'm really glad u love it though.

Koyuki-chan: yeah, I guess u could call it writer's block. I jumped out of it when I realized how long its been since the last time I updated. I don't dare to see how long its been since I updated racing hearts.

LadyAkina: yes, the king is a bastard, more on how and why later though. Lol, don't u love it when all the explanations are later?

Melanie-chan: lol, people are easily fooled.

Churry: haha, I was wondering when someone would pick up on sess being too soft. That will be in the next chapter. And I had to tell people it was a sess/kag so they would stop bugging me about what the pairing was. Of course, that really didn't do anything…


	16. Falling

Decisions of Love

Chapter 15: Falling

* * *

A millennia seemed to pass her by till she found her ability to think, to consume the knowledge that had just been knocked into her. She was seeing something that was impossible. Yet, in the obscurity of Naraku's room, his eyes glowed in an uncontained power of their own.

Gold eyes.

There was only one family in the world that could claim golden eyes that shone brighter than the sun itself. Memories fought to come alive and she backed away from the two men, half in fear and half in confusion. Her world had been more stable a few moments ago. It was Sesshoumaru's eyes, his cold gold eyes, but something was very wrong with them. There was no recognition in them, not even arrogance, just… nothing. There was only a soulless void in his eyes. Naraku took this moment of shock to attack.

He threw Sesshoumaru off to the side with a crash of wood and dove on top of Kagome, shoving sharp nails deep into her stomach. He didn't allow her any time to feel surprise when she felt his fingertips plunging in, digging for something inside her. His fingers closed over something and he viciously pulled his hand out. With his deed done, Naraku stared down at her with triumph etched on his blood stained face. His hands were slick with her blood but amidst all that crimson was a glowing purple ball in his hand, a ball who's pulsing light was steadily dying out. The darkness of the room was gradually consuming the comforting purple light. It was so easy, she vaguely thought. This was why so many youkai had been targeting her, why Naraku was luring her to him- maybe, it was why her life was in shambles right now, maybe. A giggle escaped her blood stained lips. It really had been so easy…

She felt her life flicker and something whispered to her that this was not how it was meant to be. Her fingers trembled and brushed against a fallen demon's sword hilt. She would die here, but not without a fight. She gripped the sword and swung at Naraku with the last of her life. Surprise and hope were her only real weapons, but weapons nonetheless. The sword missed Naraku's body but not the jewel. Her sword met the jewel and both objects cracked. The broken blade fell to the floor, but the shattered jewel erupted through the ceiling and out to the sky. Naraku shrieked at her and flung her broken body away, as everybody else had in the past. He leapt up to follow the jewel's scattering pieces and the suffocating darkness followed him as well.

Kami must have had pity on her because he granted her enough energy to look at the corner that Sesshoumaru had been thrown to. A blurry figure was slowly getting up from a pile of rubble and a sigh of relief passed through her lips, along with her life.

* * *

_Stay with me. Don't leave me.  
_

_I'm in a place you can't go._

_So?_

_Silly girl. Wake up._

_Why?_

_Because I didn't give up everything just to see the future disappear…_

"I don't understand."

"Wake up." Said a gruff voice.

She opened her eyes for the third time that day, or was it night? Fear tightened her heart, was she still in Naraku's room of darkness? The faint glow in the night sky above reassured her that she was outside of that horrible room of nightmares. Strong hands helped her sit up and she turned to look at the man beside her, squinting her eyes to see past the night's dark cloak.

He had Sesshoumaru's eyes, but… they were set in Akira's face… Her own hands reached up on their own to faintly touch Akira's cheek, to see if he was real. To see if it wasn't just the yearnings of a broken heart. But it was his eyes that stopped her hands from reaching out, empty eyes.

"Who- who are you?" She whispered, dreading the answer.

"Who do you think I am?" He said stonily, looking away from her. She moved to see his face but winced at the sharp pain in her stomach and sat back down. She was somehow alive and she both thanked and cursed it.

"Don't move, the healing spell needs a few more hours." He said, turning his face towards her so that she could see him.

For some reason, deep inside, she knew Akira was gone. His face, his hair, his body, they were still there, but what truly made Akira- his soul- had disappeared. She was out of tears tonight, but it didn't stop her from feeling an almost agonizing ache in her heart. Shock had enabled her to bear Akira's looming death before, but she was physically and emotionally drained and nothing softened the crushing feeling she had. Just when she thought her heart was broken into irreparable pieces, something would come her way to grind it into even tinier, worthless bits.

"I don't know who you are." She choked out, her throat clenching so hard from unshed sobs that it was painful just to breathe. She grabbed her chest as if she could keep the pain from spilling out. "I don't know anything!"

And she meant it. A piece of Naraku's dark room must have penetrated her somewhere, nothingness emerged before her grief stricken eyes. Her ignorance seemed to erupt now in one overwhelming gush. Bewilderment of her position of outcast, of being a target for youkai, of her magic powers, of Naraku, of everything. She had borne all that had come to be so far with iron will. She had pushed herself to keep moving and living, or else the world would swallow her whole, leaving her as shadow of nothing. But the wall she had painstakingly built had crumbled and all her problems collapsed on her, devastating and unbearable.

"My life has just been torn apart, and I don't know why!" She shrieked at him, turning to her old anger instead of her constant sorrow. "Don't ask me questions because I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! Everything and everybody I love has been taken from me and I don't know if I'll survive the next price I have to pay for just being alive!"

He slapped her. Hard. And she stopped her rant to feel the biting pain of her brand, still the open wound that it was. The intense pain chased away the dull aches and her head cleared, just a little bit.

"We don't have time for me to sympathize with your situation, however appalling it may be. We need to leave this place _now_ and I will explain everything at a more convenient time. But right now, in this moment, I need you to act like a rational person who doesn't go into hysterics. Understand?" He snapped at her while scooping her up in a gentle cradle. She blankly nodded her head and he set off in one of those incredible youkai runs. A run in which the world turns into a blur and time seems to slow to a crawl. A minute that could have been a century passed until he stopped, and Kagome looked up to see a pale face drawn tight with exhaustion. But the gold eyes were still as cold as ever, colder than she thought was possible.

He had taken her to a small rundown hut on the outskirts of a quiet village. Without a pause in his steps, he carefully placed her on the decayed tatami mats and then lit a weak fire before standing in the doorway. He looked outside for a long stretch of time and then turned to sit beside her. She looked at him with the dim light from the fire, waiting for him to tell her everything she needed to know.

"I am… a counterpart of Sesshoumaru." He said. "And nothing of Akira." He added, already anticipating Kagome's confusion of his words coming from Akira's mouth.

"So that means you're a complete block of ice now?" She bit back, annoyed at his own annoyance towards her.

"You will cease your impudent sarcasm." He growled at her, his eyes threatening retribution. "Whoever you thought once existed in this body and the other is no longer here to put up with your antics."

She bit her lip, this was the first time she had seen such hostility from Sesshoumaru, or whatever he was. Whoever. She turned her face away from him to stare into the darkness. It came unwanted-a loneliness so sharp that it created invisible wounds, ones that would never heal. She was truly alone now, not only through her status as an outcast, but as a human being. There was no one in this world who would remember her, the young girl who once lived.

He said no more to her for the rest of the night, and she didn't have the heart to ask any more questions. The night passed everlasting, and though Kagome's heart warmed slightly at the sight of day, the glowing light could not penetrate the deep nightmares planted by Naraku. She turned her head to the door to find it empty and held back sudden tears.

Alone. Utterly alone.

She tentatively probed her stomach and felt nothing but a dull ache that would eventually disappear. She got up and stepped outside to see a forest surrounding her completely. Without another thought, her eyes spotted an overgrown path and her feet walked it. Hours passed and the dull ache in her stomach grew greater but she fought on, not willing to stop till she walked out of this forest alive with only her anger to sustain her. And at the end of the path was her savior and her demon. His empty eyes gazed at her with disinterest and her fury spiked.

"What?" She hissed, sounding more menacing than she thought she could. "Did you think I'd come down, crawling on my knees? Now that you're disappointed, you can leave me _alone_."

There it was again, that word. Alone. Her mind raged at herself. It wanted no more loneliness, no more pain. Any more and it would break by itself, without the help of that ruthless hanyou, Naraku.

He turned to leave and she called out his name by impulse.

"Sesshoumaru!"

He stopped and she clapped her hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say it aloud.

"You're still Sesshoumaru, aren't you?" She asked him. "You're still him-"

"Not enough of him to give you any sympathy." He said, ice lining his every word. "If _he_ hadn't been so weak, maybe you would have been leading a different life than this."

"Then why are you still here?" She asked him, anger creeping into her voice. She took a step forward, and then another, feeling her familiar bravery returning. Maybe there was still something left of the old her inside. "Why were you waiting for me, if you tell me now that you don't care about me." She was close now, and she looked at him without a trace of hesitation in her eyes.

There was iron will in her eyes. Last night he had seen the epitome of humanity, a crying, weak little ingrate who sounded like a dying animal and would end up like one sooner than later. But now, there was an angry strength sweeping through her pathetic human body, an anger that could possibly consume him. A thought flitted through his mind, he wanted to take a step back but he stood his ground. His own anger sprang from the depths, meeting hers. Something had compelled him to see if she was alive and sane enough to come to the bottom of the mountain. It was the last thing he would do for the weak Sesshoumaru and a way to satisfy his small curiosity of this wench. She had somehow broken the fabled Shikon jewel with a demon sword that glowed with purifying power, something absolutely impossible. And yet, how _dare_ the puny human stand up to him now, without any regard of his exalted heritage. He had put up with it previously as a last courtesy but today, there would be no pity.

"I'm here to watch you fall, like every other human." He said. "Fall because that's the only way you were meant to live."

Her eyes widened in shock and he felt satisfied at her predictable response. What his mind and his reflexes didn't expect was a sharp slap. Her blue eyes were like a raging river, drowning him without mercy.

"If that was the truth, I would have died over a hundred times since I left the capital, but I'm still here, living and breathing, when he can't." Suddenly the drowning river in her eyes materialized, breaking through and flowing down her cheeks… falling. "For Akira, for Inuyasha, for-" There, she had almost said it. Sesshoumaru. She was going to say his name, but his name was just a name now. There was no longer a man behind that name and she wasn't sure if there ever will be again. She swallowed her bitterness down. "For them, I will continue to live. Falling is not my destiny."

This time she left him behind. The power in her words made her steps resolute and all despair was washed away by her conviction. She would continue to live, because nobody expected her to. Because living was the only way to keep them alive in her memories.

Was it his voice that she heard, whispering in her dreams like he was sitting right next to her. Or was it stupid hope, once again trying to change her inevitable fate of anger and hurt. The pain in her chest doubled at the thought of Akira and she shook her head. Mental agony and physical pain had together created an eternal feeling in her. It was unbearable, but if this heart breaking feeling was all that was left between her lost past and her uncertain future, then she would protect it. Right now, at this moment in time, her energies had to go to revenge, as her heart knew it eventually would.

* * *

Hmm, this chapter was really tricky, not to mention shorter than I expected. As it is, expect some hard times between Kagome and the Sesshoumaru-like guy who is in Akira's body Oo And I hope there are some people still sticking with this story. An extravagant hope, but one I like to indulge in. Leave a review or a complaint on my tardiness, though I usually end up getting a combination of both…

Ookami K.- lol, it will become a long, hard road for them to become an item

Koyuki-chan: mm, it was half writer's block and half lack of time. The relationship between kagome and akira is kinda blurry. Its obvious akira loves her, but I'm not really sure if kagome loves him or not. Ahhh, its sad when not even the writer knows…

Singingthisxxlie: crikey, yeah, I've been getting a lot of reviewers who say they can't remember this story so they had to read the whole thing again. Its been… too long, too too long

Eternal fire1: ehhh, death threats aren't new to me, but I will try to update a little better. I've got a better, neater schedule this quarter, which gives me more time to write. yay

Omokagekia: ehhh, it is a bit confusing. Mm, most people got half, but I believe none got it all, so don't worry, you're not the only confused one. It will get clearer and clearer as the story progresses. Aiya, yes, lots of reviewers have been forced to read again to know what the heck is going on. TT forgive and forget?

Haruna of chaos: wow, that's new. Nobody has ever asked to use my characters. You could take advantage of him after this story ends, which I am hoping is going to be by summertime. Hoping…..

Jessybelle-chan: inspiring? Aw shucks, thanks. I can be inspiring if the mood takes me, which, unluckily, not as often as I want it. Kouga and shippou are minor roles in this, as with sango and miroku.

Kawaii nai: yay, I love it when someone tells me its refreshingly different. I really try for unique storylines!

Raevnsilverkat: oo, ur right on the merge thing, but its not quite that either, its complicated and will become clear as the story goes on, which it WILL, I'm not dumping this story out!


	17. The Foreseeing Village

Chapter 16: The Foreseeing Village

She brushed a filthy black hair out of her eyes and grimaced at the sludge of dirt and sweat covering her body, but still she persevered. An endless cliff towered over, still the same size as when she first started climbing it an hour ago. She fought down a giggle- this cliff could very well reflect her entire life. No matter how long and how hard she toiled, she appeared to be going nowhere. A sudden urge to cry swelled behind her eyes and she bit down hard on her knuckles, making the pain overwhelm the impulse. All these weak desires to break apart were becoming more and more frequent, but her will drove on- ragged and bone achingly tired. At times… no, many times, she wondered where her old optimism was. Days when she laughed and look forward to tomorrow felt like faint dreams where she was merely an observer. Something was missing in her. More than her newfound powers and her past with holes, that missing part of her bothered her the most.

She carefully sat up from the jutting rock and began to climb once more, not once looking ahead or behind. The only thing she could feel was the rough dirt clinging to her fingertips and despair clenching her stomach. What if what she was looking for didn't exist? What if she had toiled this far for nothing? _What if what if_. She had to squelch these numbing thoughts before they became more real.

Five tiring hours later she finally reached the top, exhausted from the concentration it took to not fall several hundred feet. There were probably paths around the cliff that would eventually lead to the top, but time was of essence. The dread was still there, from the second she was thrown out of the palace gates to this short, but momentous triumph of reaching the top. The palace was farther than the eye could see but she felt tendrils of malice searching out for her. Kikyo or Naraku, whoever it was, someone was searching for her and her last hope was beyond the cliff. The sun flashed into her eyes as she looked out on the horizon, burning her vision. She swayed for a moment, coming perilously close to the edge of the cliff but she held herself firm. Gradually her vision came back and the landscape slowly became clear. There weren't any spirals of smoke indicating a nearby village, no treeless meadows where houses could be, no indication of any life within a 20 mile radius.

Desolation should have taken her then but the lack of any civilization was what she wanted. The place she sought was one not easily seen and accessible by normal citizens. The Foreseeing Village was only found by those who sought it from the depths of their souls, so whispered the villagers she had asked; any shred of selfishness or greed left the searcher in endless circles. They had peered curiously into the head cloth she used to cover her brand but asked no open questions of her sorry state. With a polite deference for pitiable beggers, they gave her a bundle of food and sent her on her way. Her stomach growled angrily and her hand clenched the cloth that once held a small, but welcome amount of food. A jagged rock had opened a shallow wound and with her clothes already in tatters, she had used the little cloth as a bandage instead. A once faded but cheery blue had now been tainted into a depressing brown from the filth she picked up in the past few days. She couldn't bear to look into ponds and rivers she came across, terrified of the destitute she would see.

She suppressed a sigh and turned around to continue on her lost way, following wherever her senses pricked in curiosity. It had been nearly two weeks since she left Sesshoumaru on that mountain. The anger and courage it took to not look back had faded quickly and when she did look back, he had disappeared. A tiny annoying part of her had half hoped that he would still be there when she turned but there was nothing left for her. Nothing would ever remain for her if she turned back. Looking back had come to mean that there was just another remnant of her old life that she would eventually lose. All she could do now was move forward, even if her heart wasn't into it. Move forward and follow that strange sense, intuition, feeling, whatever it was.

Steadily throughout the two weeks, she had faithfully used this sense to guide her away from youkai still seeking her out and patrolling army soldiers. If her trust was well placed, this same sense could possibly lead her to a place that could answer all questions- The Foreseeing Village. Suddenly a prickle turned into an anxious buzz. She swiftly tucked herself into a bush and waited for whoever was coming into the clearing. Soft steps nearby made her freeze her body and quiet her breathing. Without even seeing, she could tell it was a graceful person, their steps were quiet but confident, easily walking without breaking any twigs. A tall miko stepped out and stood as still as a statue, not even a single strand of her ebony hair moved- she waiting for something, or could it be someone? Her head jerked around and stared straight at Kagome's bush. Kagome squeaked and the miko grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the bush with an unexpected strength. Kagome looked up at the miko from her sprawled position on the ground. The miko wasn't beautiful but striking, mostly in part to the reassuring strength in her eyes, though it held some hostility to Kagome at the moment. Those piercing brown eyes peered into Kagome much like the dragon queen had, searching for something Kagome didn't know. Frightened, but determined, Kagome cleared her throat and broke the concentration in the miko's eyes.

"A-are you from the Foreseeing Village?" Kagome asked.

The miko peered into Kagome's eyes for a few more seconds and then nodded her head. She motioned Kagome to follow her and disappeared into the thick forest. A surge of adrenaline rushed through Kagome as she got to her feet and ran after the miko. Flashes of black hair in the distance was like a beacon that gave Kagome more hope with every step she took. The miko had disappeared and Kagome burst through a cluster of trees to come back to where she started. She looked around in dismay while gasping for breath. There was no village and no miko in sight. While night had fallen, even the dark couldn't hide the fact that this was the very same cliff she had climbed to. The air in front of her rippled for a second and Kagome stared at the spot of movement. She concentrated her senses and it was there before her eyes, an intense wall of magic. It was a large barrier that was hiding something that hovered in mid air and it started right at the edge of the cliff. Kagome pressed her hands against the barrier and felt a solid weight. With a little pressure, her hands went through, just like the barrier at Naraku's castle. She stood and stepped through without another thought. Rather than a deadly drop, Kagome stepped on a very firm bridge. A murmuring river was below and a small village ahead. The striking miko was waiting at the end of the bridge with astonishment on her face.

"You crossed through…" The miko didn't hide the surprise in her voice.

"It was either this or death." Kagome said. "Are you going to lead me on another chase?"

"No…no, come with me to meet the Elder." The miko said in wonder. She turned and swiftly walked to a small hut on the left. She reverently moved the door cloth aside and motioned Kagome in without entering herelf.

A middle aged woman sat with her back to the door, stroking a fire with a metal rod. The hut was simple for someone who was given the exalted title of Elder. Nothing gave away the fact the this woman was a miko or a witch or someone with incredible power. Kagome felt a touch of disappointment. When she had first heard the whispers of the village that had all answers to the future, hope had come alive. What she had expected was mystical ornaments on the walls, throbbing power emanating from the Elder, ritual clothing, _anything. _Instead, the Elder patted the ground next to the fire with an inviting smile and Kagome politely sat, her knees tucked beneath and her hands on her lap. A few streaks of silver danced across the woman's hair, but other than some wrinkles around the mouth, this "Elder" appeared the same age as Kagome's own mother.

"So you're the one putting the forest in a frenzy." The Elder spoke. Her voice was like velvet on air and muscles Kagome didn't know were tensed began to ease. "They were so excited that it took hours for them to tell Seiko where you were. You came much sooner than we thought." The Elder stood and grabbed a wooden box on a shelf. She handed the box to Kagome to open and sat down again, stroking the fire with sad eyes. "Midoriko… this was Midoriko's last prediction before she left the village. This box is rightfully yours, as she predicted. And you have finally come, as she said you would."

Kagome cracked open the box to find a simple beaded necklace and a parchment scrap. "My last legacy." She read aloud. There was nothing else on the paper and she felt like throwing the scrap of nothing into the fire. "I don't understand. I came to this village for answers, not more questions. What does Midoriko have to do with me?"

"You are the last legacy- Midoriko's child." She sighed. "You will stay with Seiko tonight. Tomorrow, when the day is bright and brave, I'll tell you why the village found you."

Seiko moved the door cloth to let Kagome out but Kagome looked back before leaving.

"I thought only the pure of heart could find the village."

"The village finds you when you truly need it. Go. We will summon the past tomorrow."

Seiko urged Kagome out and she obeyed, the Elder's sad voice driving her away more powerfully than a command. Outside, Seiko led Kagome to a large temple in the center of the village. Before going in Seiko stopped Kagome with a hand.

"I can't feel any power from you and I don't want to believe that you are Midoriko's child, but if the Elder says you are, then I must believe it. However, what are your reasons for finally coming back to the village?" Seiko asked with a guarded look.

Kagome gritted her teeth and peeled off the makeshift bandage that covered her brand. Seiko hissed in what was shock or surprise, Kagome didn't care. "I came because I have nowhere else to go. The village is my last hope for any answers."

Seiko's guarded look quickly changed into pity as she reached a hand out to touch the brand. A spark of magic shocked Seiko's hand and the tall priestess took a step back, staring at her fingers in wonder. "I-it's a seal." Seiko said, taking a step further to examine Kagome's brand, but being careful not to touch it. "I've never seen a seal so strong, even with Midoriko's power. You can't even sense it unless you're close to it. It's sealing something incredibly powerful or incredibly dangerous." Seiko shook herself out of her surprise and ushered Kagome into a corridor and slid open a door to reveal a modest room. "You need rest. The Elder will see you at noon tomorrow." With one last look of pity, Seiko quietly left.

Kagome sank down gratefully onto the futon, the first she had since leaving the palace. She had finally arrived, against all odds, arrived and survived to come to the Foreseeing Village. Since first stepping on the bridge, a strange feeling had bothered her. It was uncomfortably familiar and she finally realized what it was as her worn body felt the softness of blankets- happiness. Bitter tears wanted to pour out and Kagome couldn't stop the giggles. How could she have forgotten the feeling of happiness? What else had she forgotten as she trekked through dangerous forests and deadly enemies in a lonely silence? And there it was, the unwanted memory that she had constantly battled to keep from appearing, Sesshoumaru. The giggles stopped and everything she worked hard at keeping forgotten was finally remembered. The past crept back into her mind, angry at being swept aside in her mind consuming goal of finding the village. Loneliness had found her again, through this village full of people. Her family had forsaken her, Akira was dead, and Sesshoumaru, a stranger shrouded in mystery, had left her on that dirt road. Her past should have stayed the past but in this warm inviting room, in this village of answers, her past flooded out in just one simple emotion- loneliness.

On the gentle futon and under the soft blanket, Kagome's past slipped out until her pillow was drenched with regrets and memories.

* * *

Her eyes were incredibly puffy and Kagome didn't dare to look at a mirror. Even after two baths to scrub off all the grime and a set of clean clothes, she felt her eyes were being pinched together by an invisible force. If it wasn't the puffy eyes that made the other priestesses stare, Kagome mused, it might be the brand. Even without a mirror, she could tell the brand was slowly developing into a hideous scar. She had traced the brand's shape with her fingers while soaking in the hot bath. It was not the emblem of the royal youkai family, as she had originally thought, but a strange circular shape with little squiggles in the middle. Still, she wasn't curious enough to look in the mirror, even after being washed into a normal human being. She had seen years of hardship and sorrow turn her once beautiful mother into a pitiful farmer's wife. What would Kagome see reflected back from the mirror?

The village had a healthy population of mikos- from shy apprentices to grandmothers with brilliant white hair. But there wasn't a single male amongst the red and white garbed women. Many pairs of eyes flickered at Kagome and her brand but there was only curiosity, not the disgust she had become accustomed to. Seiko was standing guard in front of the Elder's hut again and she gave her a curious look upon seeing the girl.

"What?" Kagome asked, slightly defensive.

"You're showing your brand…" Seiko said with a slight blush. "If it was me, I would have covered it for the rest of my life."

"And that," the Elder said as she stepped out of the hut. "Is what makes you very different from Kagome."

"Elder." Seiko jumped to a bow.

Standing up, the Elder was only an inch or two taller than Kagome. She motioned Kagome to follow her and they walked all the way to the bridge in a comfortable silence. They stepped into the forest that Kagome had emerged from last night but instead of walking into the barrier, they hiked deeper into a lush forest. The entire time branches that should have slapped her seemed to reach out to gently brush against her arms. The Elder turned around to look at Kagome who was a few steps behind, staring at a bush that almost seemed to lift its branch gracefully like a geisha pouring sake.

"The forest is a great part of a miko's power. All natural things have an affinity with miko's and vice versa. It gives us power to fight the unnatural." The Elder explained. "Which explains this."

They came upon a piece of land completely barren of life. A deep cave crackling from a barrier protected the entrance stood before them. The Elder gave a sigh next to her and Kagome turned to look in surprise at the woman who had aged at the sight of the cave. Wrinkles dug deeper around her eyes and her entire face seem to droop from the weight of an unknown burden.

"Elder-"

"Midoriko's power still pulls at the land. For almost two decades, nothing has grown within vicinity of this cave." The Elder turned to look at Kagome with a look that almost seemed to be one of pity. "Since Midoriko died, none of us have been able to pass the barrier to get inside. But your blood will allow you to pass…"

Kagome knew at once that the cave would have all of her answers, but… what could a dead woman tell her? She took a deep breath, stepped through the resisting barrier, and felt her body pull to a different time, a different history…

-17 years ago-

Her body was fueled by many things. As a miko, she was fueled by the mother earth herself. As a human being, she was fueled by food and water. As a soul, she was fueled by love. But with the events that had transpired many months ago, the earth now rejected her and sustenance was like tasteless ash in her mouth. As for love… ah, love. Only love could turn to such a bitter and cruel evil. She looked down at her protruding belly- physical evidence that love could tear a person's life into pieces. The sight of her stomach disgusted her, yet at the same time filled her with a strange affection. She laughed out loud and the trees made no movement of joy, as they would have before. No, there would be no joy in what she carried. The only thing that fueled her now was despair. Oh how she wished for the future of her little ones; that the children would never have to tread home in hopelessness as she was right now.

A few more steps and she would be there. Though all nature rejected her she could still feel the warm, throbbing power of her home calling out to her. She pushed the last tree branches aside to see the familiar bridge leading to the inviting huts. All activity stopped at the sight of the ragged priestess and for a brief second, she thought that the village would reject her too. Terror filled her for she had no other place to go other than the inviting arms of hell. But the brief second passed and a flurry of activity took place. Nobody had Seen her coming and it came to no surprise. Of all the futures in the village, her's was the one Seen the least.

No questions were asked as it was common to have priestesses disappear then reappear with their belly swollen with child. It was the way of the mikos who lived in the Foreseeing Village for no males were welcomed within the purity of the land. However, many pursed their lips at the wretched sight of the village's most promising priestess.

"Midoriko." The low voice of the Elder brought her back to her senses.

Midoriko looked at the Elder and invisible tears flowed down her cheeks, tears only the Elder was able to see. With whispered orders, the entire village flowed back to their previous activities and not a single furtive glance settled on the two women. Without any aid, Midoriko slowly walked to the Elder's tent and fell on to the tatami mats, her exhaustion finally showing itself. She sunk into a deep sleep of no dreams and it was bliss for she had no wish to See her little ones' futures again.

When she awoke, the sun was setting and crimson flashes swung into the room from the open door. Or was it rising? She turned her head to see the Elder facing the doorway, looking at something far in the distance, or perhaps she was Seeing.

"Those who See are inevitably accurate in their visions, and though there is comfort in the knowledge of surety, there is also much despair." The Elder spoke softly, not to her but to the air, much as if she was speaking to someone or something else. Slowly, she turned her head and her eyes settled on Midoriko, filling her with a calm warmth. "My dear, what are you carrying?"

"The world." Her voice rasped out. The Elder quickly brought a bowl of water to the priestess's lips. She drunk it dry and felt life coming back to her throat. Ah, finally, she could taste the water.

"The world?" The Elder asked curiously. "Every mother carries the world when she is with child."

"I am not carrying the world, I am hiding it from someone." Midoriko said, her voice becoming urgent. "I made a mistake. I fell in love and because I fell in love, I've risked everything."

The Elder's eyes becoming brighter as the night began to pass. "What are you carrying?" She asked once more, this time no warmth carried through.

"His daughters. Our daughters." Midoriko touched her belly for a moment and her hand fell away in fear. "Everything I saw in him was an illusion. I've never encountered anybody like him before. He made you believe that sky was earth, that death is life. Evil is love…" This time her hands covered her eyes in a helpless motion to ward away the terrible memories. "He wants more than just my powers, he wants my _soul_. I-I," she stammered, fear creeping into her head. "I told him the truth, I Saw my future and that I would die young and because he cannot claim my soul, he wants _them_." She touched her belly once more, this time holding it tightly. Her right hand whipped out to grip the Elder's hand as if it was the only solid thing in the world. "I See the children's future, every night, every day. It fills my head and every time I look at him, I know that he can See their future through my eyes. Because he cannot have me, he wants them!"

"Children?" The Elder finally spoke, her face betraying no pain despite the iron grip on her hand. "Twins?"

Midoriko nodded her head and the Elder sighed, an act that she rarely partook in. In history, twins were a double edged sword. One would do great good to the world while the other negated it. If the greatest priestess in the Foreseeing Village's history bore twins, then indeed, the world could be at stake. Midoriko's mouth opened to speak more but a cry came out instead. Her hands cradled her stomach and a low moan crept out of her mouth. Water spilled out onto the tatami mats she laid on and magic began rising in the air. The Elder wasted no time and calmly gathered all materials needed for a birthing but her jaw was clenched tight. In the few times Midoriko openly used her power, it had felt like tidal waves crashing into a cliff. This time, however, it felt like giant tsunami engulfing everything in its hungry path. These twins would indeed bring great destruction upon the world and the Elder's eyes flicked to the small dagger hanging on the hut wall. She shook her head, ignoring the screams tearing out of Midoriko's mouth. To do away with the children would bring even greater destruction. With a second sigh, she traced characters into the air, creating a barrier around the hut to hold in the magic. If Midoriko was running from someone, this barrier would hide her magic, if only for a few precious hours.

An hour later the Elder held two baby girls in her arms, a patch of raven hair on each of their heads. No cries came from their lips, only a grave silence as they blinked their eyes into clarity. One of them had the trademark miko eyes, brown orbs that sought deep into a person's soul. The other, a strange blue that appeared dull at first but then flashed brilliantly in the candlelight.

"The babies," Midoriko whispered. "Are they well?"

The Elder wiped the last of the afterbirth from their bodies and brought them to their mother. Midoriko looked at them with a mixture of awe and fear. With a trembling hand, she reached out to touch but then suddenly drew back.

"He'll be here soon- I must leave now!" Midoriko cried out in pain in her attempt to sit up.

"No! You must rest for at least a day. I will gather the other priestesses and maintain a strict guard- the village will do its best to protect itself. In the meantime, you _must_ rest." The Elder ordered. She settled the babies into a basket and poured Midoriko a cup of thick medicine.

"We will be prepared when he comes, but it is imperative that you rest." The Elder said a bit more gently as Midoriko drank the bitter potion with a flinch. "We did not survive this long because of luck."

"You are underestimating his power," Midoriko said furiously but the Elder only pulled a blanket on top of her. In a last futile attempt to be heard, Midoriko's hand lashed out to hold on to the Elder's collar. The candles flickered with Midoriko's motion, throwing shadows across the hut wall like menacing ghosts. "He…he's a hanyou. I thought I could change him but he devours everything around him. Monsters, humans…You can't fight him head to head! I tried everything I could to leave and look at me! Broken inside and out! " Tears finally began to spill out, tears streaked with blood. A raw terror creeped into the Elder at the sight of the priestess. The shadows all seemed to be gathering around Midoriko so that only her deep brown eyes were visible. "I don't know what he did to me but I'm missing something inside and its affecting everything I am."

The Elder stood silent for a moment, musing at the few options available when the forest began to cry. She and all the priestesses rushed out of their huts to stare in shock at the forest. The trees wailed and thrashed like they were being devoured by a vicious fire. The shaking of the trees sounded like the assault of an oncoming army and many mikos readied their bows, pointing it straight at the forest. The trees quieted to a whisper and suddenly the moon disappeared, throwing the village into utter darkness. Not a single woman cried out in fear but they all felt the savage prickles of youki crawling on their skin. A thousand, no, tens of thousands of youkai were racing towards them. The village's natural defenses had been completely stripped away, defenses that had hidden and protected the village for centuries suddenly vanished before a full breath could be taken and the wave of youkai hit them. Bursts of fire erupted in the sky, felling groups of surprised youkai, but few mikos were able to trace the complete magic sigils into the air. Many fell upon the swiftness of the youkai's keen revenge. A grudge spanning centuries fueled the thousands of youkai and many howled and cried out into the sky at the joy of finally having their retribution. The Elder was momentarily at a loss of thought as she herself cast arrow after arrow into the heavens, creating blazing paths of pure energy that sucked all youki in. It was when she finally drew breath that she remembered Midoriko's warning. She threw her bow down and raced to the hut. What a fool she was!

Midoriko was already in her clothes and leaning over the basket to gather her daughters into her arms. She turned to look at the Elder with calm eyes.

"Midoriko-" the Elder started to say but the priestess silenced her with a single look.

"I Saw… and the future still remains the same. You say there is comfort in the knowledge of surety, but in reality, there is no comfort in knowing nothing will change." Midoriko shook her head as cries of mikos mixed with the cries of youkai. "Though I See, I will only Believe that the future can be made into whatever we want with our own hands."

She limped past the Elder and the old miko could do nothing but accept the priestess's choice. Midoriko held her babies tight to her chest as she made for the old cave behind the village. Bushes and trees tentatively reached out to her, slowly giving back her confidence as she began to remember her bond with nature. Her moment would come soon, but like a dying fire's last desperate flare of life, she would give all of herself to give her daughters a different future. Her confidence didn't shrink as the wind brought the scent of human blood to her nose. And it didn't shrink upon the sight of a monster of a man standing in the cave's entrance. Dozens of clawed arms sprang from his amorphous body but his handsome head remained the same.

"My pet," Naraku said smugly. "Why are you hiding our daughters from me?" He drew closer and even in the moonless night she could clearly see every inch of his hideous form. "I am their father after all."

"They are MY daughters and you will not have them." Midoriko said with resolution. His calm smile faltered for a second and that was all she needed. A dagger appeared in her hand and she threw it straight at his heart. A brilliant light surrounded the dagger but it quickly disappeared in Naraku's ravenous youki.

"You bitch, did you think you could run forever from me?" He snarled at her, but remembered himself and smiled at her again. "Don't tell me you forgot that everything you are belongs to me."

Midoriko could only hug her babies tight. With a single word, dozens of light beams struck him like lightning, this time getting past his thick aura. Using this time, she ran into the cave, her feet remembering every rock and every turn from childhood. She heard his angry cries and she pumped her legs faster. A tentacle savagely hit her on her head and she pulled herself into a protective ball around her babies as she fell. A jutting rock stabbed her side as she rolled into a dark corner of the cave. Her eyes fought to see through the darkness of the cave, but it wasn't darker than Naraku's figure as he stood above her in his humanoid form, waiting for her to stand and fight. Midoriko knew this was the end. Her visions had always given her only one hint of her death, a cold darkness with the cries of her babies in the background. Always, the sad cries of her babies was what broke her heart the most. _The future, tell me the future!_ She begged to the gods. She knew her visions could not change but if only she could see ahead just a little bit more. All she saw was the darkness- in the cave, in Naraku, in her herself. If only she had light…

The world slowed to a crawl as an answer came at least. If there was darkness, she would have to create the light to battle that darkness. Her last resort was a spell she had created in her younger days- a combination of offensive and binding magic that took an immense amount of pure energy. Using it tentatively just once had left her bedridden for days but it had permanently sealed several hundred youkai with just one try. Yet, if used completely, then it would surely take her life, for what was more pure than a miko's soul.

She tucked her babies into the corner and turned to face Naraku, still shielding the little ones. Their cries died down into utter silence and Midoriko felt everything in the universe fall into place. Her visions had shown her to die, but how she would die was never set in stone. Fate settled comfortably around her aching belly, still fresh with pain from childbirth.

"Finally giving up?" Naraku hissed at her, his impatience peeking through his normal veil of indifference. "You already saw your own death. Surely you, of all people, wouldn't be trying to cheat death?" His eyes began to flood into a deep red as an influx of jyaki filled the cave. "If only you had welcomed the darkness…"

Suddenly, sigils raced out of her hands, thousands of them at once in an endless stream that quickly began to coil around Naraku like a net. It coiled tighter and tighter, binding him in a spinning ball of purple light. His shrieks filled the air and his tentacles went wild, hitting everything it could. Midoriko collapsed in front of her babies, shielding them from his appendages with her body. However, one of them managed to get through and it grabbed one of her twins. She screamed in anger but it was too late as Naraku flew off into the night while thousands of his minions rushed into the cave, seeking their revenge. The sigils continued to spill from her hands, flowing through the youkai like a fast river current. They all screeched in pain as the magic began to bind them all and hold them in place. The magic spun faster and faster until it condensed into a shiny ball in Midoriko's hands, leaving empty husks of youkai everywhere.

She had no more power left, she was sucked dry of everything, including her soul. God had been kind enough to give her a few more seconds of consciousness before she too would become a dry husk like the soulless youkai around her. Already, she could feel her skin become dry and condensed. She gently touched the remaining girl's soft cheek and pushed the shiny ball onto the baby's stomach until it melted into the skin. With no more energy left, she fell like a lifeless doll, her head rolling off to the side.

Midoriko's eyes gazed into the darkness, searching for something through the hurrying veil of death and it found the invisible form of Kagome. Brown eyes fell deeper and deeper until they were like dark sapphires and Kagome felt her breath hitch. Her mother stared straight at her in full knowledge of her presence and gave her a grim smile.

"He was a man… once." Her weak voice rattled out and the barrier slammed down on the cave, throwing out Kagome back to her own time.

* * *

Aah, this has been such a hectic year for me and this story's beginning really irked me, but I've decided to work past it and keep going on with this story. I started this story when I was really young and I HATE reading most of this story, I wish I could change a lot of things, but its already set in internet stone so I'll try my best to make the rest of it better. This update came with much toil and I wanted to add more to this chapter but I think I should end it here before I throw my computer out my window. For those who still follow this story (my goodness, why??) thanks thanks thanks for the support!


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